 I'm Becky Lawton. I'm doing a collaborative PhD with Leicester University and the British Library. I'm working on how the Anglo-Saxons use the written word to experience Rome from afar, analysing travel texts and paper letters in their manuscript form. I've always been really fascinated by the medieval period and I've always wanted to work on the material culture as much as possible. So, when this PhD came up and with the opportunity to work directly with the manuscripts themselves, it was just too good an opportunity to miss. Over the course of my PhD I've had the chance to go to Leicester to take advantage of the workshops that they offer and then I've also been able to do the occasional public talk. Being at both Leicester and the British Library has also given me two outlets to really present my research and get my research out there to the wider public. At the library I've been able to help with open days, presenting my research and different manuscripts to master students, to doctoral students or to just general members of the public. I've really been able to be immersed in the day-to-day workings of the medieval manuscript section. I've been able to have full exposure to the collections, which has enabled me to see such a wide variety of manuscripts that I never would have had access to at a more traditional university-based PhD. Everything that I've had the opportunity to do over the past couple of years has given me the opportunity to develop personal skills and professional skills both together. I feel I have the confidence now to go out there and to chase the career that I do want to chase and I feel like this PhD has really equipped me with the skills that I need to do that.