Tracy Shan

Hey there! I am a PhD student and my research focuses on translation studies between English and Chinese. I just started my fifth year of my PhD in Leeds.

After obtaining my bachelor’s degree in English in China, I decided to come to Leeds to study for a Master’s degree because of its high quality of teaching and its outstanding performance in different university rankings. After successfully finishing two MA programs in University of Leeds, I went back to my home country for a gap year, as I was not sure whether I preferred to continue for the doctoral study or to find a job at that time. Thanks to the gap year, it turned out that I preferred to continue for the doctoral study, so I decided to come back to University of Leeds for my study. Besides the high quality of teaching, the reason that I decided to come back is related to my familiarity with my supervisors, the school and the university. It has been three years since I started my PhD study and the experience has been as great as I expected. The School of Languages, Cultures and Societies is a vibrant and diverse space to develop my research. My supervisors have provided me with guidance, help and support from the very first day, and I have also learned many things from the research workshops offered by the university. The academic environment is the best thing about my course and also one of my favourite things about the university. I have been selected as one of the PGR representatives for the 2018/19 and 2019/20 academic years, which enabled me to develop my interpersonal communication skills and learn how to cooperate with others. I’m also working as a lead invigilator and the teaching assistant in our school.

I’m living in a studio in an off-campus private accommodation hall, only 5-minute walk to the city centre and around 20 minutes to the university.

In my spare time, I used to go to the Edge to do some sports but I prefer to do some exercise in my accommodation or go jogging in the park when there are not many people because of the COVID-19.

As a big city in the UK, the pace of life here in Leeds is not as fast as that in London, neither too slow to lose your passion for life, which I think is one of the best things about Leeds as a city.

If you want to chat with me about anything, feel free to message me on Unibuddy or through email tracy-link@leeds.ac.uk. Looking forward to hearing from you!