Michael Best doesn’t take notes like most students. Instead of scribbling in real time, he records lectures on his phone, replays them later, and types with a single finger. Living with spastic quadriplegia, a form of cerebral palsy that affects all four limbs, Best has faced extraordinary challenges on his path to graduation. Yet, with resilience and passion, he has turned barriers into stepping stones.
“I do all my assignments and exams on my laptop since I struggle to hold a pen,” he explains. “I type slowly, using only my right index finger.” To keep pace, he was granted permission to record lectures and rely on ClickUP for study materials, which proved vital during recovery from multiple surgeries.
Surgeries, Setbacks, and Perseverance
Between 2023 and 2024, Best endured two major hip operations and a rhizotomy to sever pain-transmitting nerves. “Every day, you could find me dripping with sweat and trembling from severe pain in my right hip and lower back,” he recalls. Balancing recovery with deadlines meant requesting extensions, but he refused to give up. “It felt so good when I finally completed the degree in January this year,” he says with pride.
The Role of Support and Community
Best credits his success to the English Department’s unwavering support. “They never gave up on me and encouraged me through the hard times,” he says. His passion for literature was nurtured early, thanks to parents who filled his childhood with books, audiobooks, and bedtime stories like The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter.
Literature as a Lifelong Calling
For Best, literature is more than study — it’s a lens for life. “Literature reflects the human condition,” he explains. “It encourages us to explore perspectives, question assumptions, and recognise the grey areas that define experience.” His Honours degree sharpened these skills, equipping him to approach problems with nuance, whether in academia, the public sector, or creative industries.
Looking ahead, he hopes to pursue a career in academia: “I want to create a space where students are encouraged not only to read critically but to think courageously.”
Gratitude at the Heart of Success
Best’s resilience is anchored in gratitude. He credits his parents as his greatest teammates: “They supported me through good and bad times. Life in academia is magical for me, and I hope my love and admiration for them shines through in everything I do.”
For Michael Best, graduation is not just a milestone. It’s living proof that pain doesn’t have the final word — perseverance, passion, and purpose do.
