Sow, grow, succeed: 10 life lessons for new students
22 October 2024
MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership Students
MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership student Zoe Urban shares valuable lessons she learned from both gardening and education. She uses the metaphor of tending a garden to offer 10 practical tips and reflections for new students embarking on their Oxford journey. From recognising seasons of change to embracing failure and cultivating growth, Zoe’s reflections provide thoughtful guidance for those looking to thrive in their studies and beyond.
About the author:
Zoe Urban is studying on the MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership programme, run jointly by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences and the Saïd Business School. She is paediatric speech and language therapist with 20 years’ experience. She has specialist skills in complex speech disorder and has practiced within the NHS, education and the private sector. Zoe established Speak-Easy London and headed up the practice for many years.
My Oma was a gardener. Year round, she laboured with the changing seasons. Sewing, planting and harvesting. I once asked her where she learnt her skills. Oma told me that when she arrived in England with little gardening knowledge, she’d learnt from her friend and neighbour, Olive. ‘What Olive did on Mondays, I did on Tuesdays….’
I believe that there is nothing in life that cannot be learnt from tending a garden.
A year into the MSc in Global Healthcare Leadership (MGHL) programme, I offer my reflections and advice to new students….
1. Recognise the season
We are already in October and I forgot to plant my pumpkin seeds months ago. Am I frustrated at myself? Yes. No Halloween pumpkin this year. No point in planting these now as it’s too late, and besides, it’s not planting season. This is the season for clearing the beds, reaping the last of the summer vegetables and strengthening the soil.
Consider which season you are in. Be conscious of what is changing around you and how you stand within it. What is achievable for you now? What needs to be accepted and put to bed, and what can you put your energies into, in preparation for next season?
2. Do the groundwork
Preparation is powerful. Root out the weeds, nourish the soil, and protect the seedlings. Attend to the basics.
Carve out time to read the literature; attend the Q&A; arrange the meeting and wrangle with the assignments. The importance of preparation cannot be over-emphasised.
3. Cultivate good will
Your classmates will become your best source of deep knowledge, broad expertise and solid advice, so pay attention! Listen to them, invest in relationships and offer your unique skills, too. Remember, you bring your own special gifts to the table, so offer them graciously. This circular exchange of resources will benefit all of you, and contribute to your collective growth.
4. Accept support with grace
During the late spring and early summer this year, I lived in rural Oxfordshire to support my son in adjusting to his new school. This meant that I would not be able to tend to my little allotment in Jersey. Fortuitously, kind friends offered to take care of it for me, and what an incredible job they did! What I am harvesting now is due to their consistent and committed efforts on my behalf.
Recognise your own limitations and when you need help and do not be shy to ask for it. You will find that friends and faculty are only too willing to support you.
5. Unearth the weeds
Weeding is one task that I find incredibly meditative. It gives me a quiet space to collect my thoughts and make plans. Removing the ‘weeds’ from your life can be a way to help you focus, giving you the best chance to grow and succeed in your new endeavour.
Identify what is holding you back and root it out. This might be a habit, a thought process, a relationship or your work environment. Remove whatever is not serving you in your personal growth.
6. Rest the land
When you overwork soil, nothing will grow. Instead, it requires nutrition and rest to be ready to deliver when the moment arises.
It’s imperative during your studies that you ring-fence some time to focus on other ventures that bring you rest and re-cooperation. Never overwork so much that you have nothing left to give.
7. Embrace failure
Sometimes your seedlings will fail to take. Those plants you nurtured might succumb to a hard winter and the crops might spoil. For example, an unexpected spring frost might wither the Magnolia blossoms that looked so radiant the day before.
Failure is a gift. Despite your best efforts, you will not always achieve what you set out to, and your confidence will take a hit. Reflect on why that assignment, that project or that relationship did not blossom as you imagined it would. Take your learnings with you as you forge ahead.
8. Take risks
When gardening, you might be tempted to ask, ‘What is even in this seed packet?’ I’m here to tell you it doesn’t matter. Sew and nurture those seeds anyway, as they may yield great rewards.
Trust yourself to rise to the challenges that seem bigger than you can handle. You can never plan for every eventuality, so wing it if you must! You might surprise yourself.
9. Losty wosty in the jungly wungly?
Remember ‘Where’s Wally'? Those busy picture-book scenes challenging you to find the elusive, stripy-shirted Wally? This was a phrase used in the books that myself, and my brother Edward, would chant to each other during our childhood games.
Just like the dense overgrowth of a garden, there will be days when you will become overwhelmed by the sheer number of tasks you are required to complete and the high standards you need to maintain. Managing family, work and your studies can be draining. When this happens, take a step back. Consider the bigger picture if you are weighed down by complexity. Prioritise your tasks and leverage your network for support.
10. Celebrate the harvest
The sun will shine, the rain will fall, and your labours will come to fruition. The efforts you make will be rewarded. When you succeed, and you will succeed, celebrate! Revel in those precious moments of joy. Use that energy as a catalyst to propel you forward on to your next task.
...And finally, a word of encouragement for when the harvest you see is poor: We do not always feel or see the immediate results of our work, but someday, somebody, somewhere in the world will. As the poet Cicely Herbert reminds us: ‘We plant trees for those born later’.
Best of luck to all the new students coming to study at Oxford this year – your growth is just beginning!
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