DICTAcareers
“Aren’t You Just a
Perpetual Student?”
Aaron Khan studied law at Bristol, where he was President of the
UBLC 2009/10. He graduated top of his class and then attended the
College of Europe in Bruges, Brussels where he did an LLM in European Law. He is now a Teaching Associate in Law. Here he provides an
insider’s account of academia from the perspective of a junior academic.
T
he quote in this title is attributed to a former student of
mine, who asked me this whilst quizzing me on why I decided to become an academic. In fairness, it probably says more
about me than their perception of academia. I have been mistaken for a student on quite a few occasions during my time at
Bristol. Perhaps, my favourite moment was turning up to invigilate an EU Law exam and being stopped by someone in a
fluorescent jacket who told me that “students must wait outside
until called by an invigilator”.
However, this quote is also indicative of a number of
myths surrounding academia. In this article, I will attempt to
explain the role of an academic whilst outlining the reasons behind my career choice. I hope that my perspectives as a junior
academic might inspire some of you to consider it as a possible
career choice. »
36 | DICTA 2013