Unmeasured explores the beauty of the deliberate choice to return to education later in life, and the delicate balancing of study, identity, family, and wellbeing. It reflects on the tension between how we are seen and how we experience ourselves — across age, culture, and shifting expectations.

Navigating new knowledge, cultural distance, and the ongoing balance between family, identity, and self-care, the work asks what it means to shift from data to dialogue, from certainty to empathy. It honours the quiet strength found in choosing to keep learning, in making space for oneself, and in caring for the body as it changes. It makes space for complexity — resisting the notion that everything of value can be quantified. It is a reminder that listening, growing, and being seen matter deeply, and that learning is not always linear, but lived.

This reflection and inspiration emerged as part of Works in Progress: A Collaborative Art Exhibition Between ECA and Mature Students, Whitespace, 2025. There, Sonal Katyal — a PhD student in accessibility and inclusion in science communication — shared with me that, as a mature student, she is learning to accept and define her own version of student life. For her, it’s about rethinking what age truly means — and recognising when to listen to, and when to let go of, the labels, expectations, and experiences we construct, both individually and collectively.