Introduction to Alumnex Series
It’s 2026! This year marks no. 60 since Trevelyan College was founded. As part of the college’s celebrations, alumni were invited to share their profiles and stories with current students to encourage them to “Explore without Limits”. Therefore, I decided to start this “Alumnex” series to record these alumni’s valuable experiences, so they can continue to “Aspire to Inspire” after they leave. (My old school cohort slogan; hope you don’t find it too corny!)
Jasper Yam, Features Editor
I hope you’ll enjoy this article and the articles to come! If you would like to contribute to this series or the features section in HEX, shoot us an email at trevs.magazine@durham.ac.uk or dm us at @trevs.magazine!
Our alumni spotlight for our first article of the series is Nic Wilson! Nic is an alumna from 1993-1997, having completed her BA in English Literature and PGDE at Durham University. After working in the education field for 12 years, she started her career as a freelance writer and editor in 2018. She frequently makes contributions to The Guardian, BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine, and many other magazines as a nature writer. She is also the author of one of the BBC Wildlife Best Books of 2025, Land Beneath the Waves, a memoir about her journey of self-discovery in nature. On Tuesday 20th October, we were fortunate to have Nic arrive at Trevelyan College and share her life, as part of the “Tell Your Story” series of our 60th anniversary celebrations.
From her teenage years, Nic has been suffering from chronic fatigue and pain in her everyday activities, only recieving the chronic illness coeliac disease & adenomyosis when she was an adult. Her mother also suffered from myalgic encephalomyelitis, a multi-system chronic illness, and post-natal depression, so she was not always able to take care of her children. To find moments of relief, their family would often go out and enjoy the natural world, allowing Nic to explore different animals, plants, and landscapes of the UK. Being in nature allowed her to escape her pain and find brief moments of joy, even if only for a little while.
Being in nature allowed her to escape from pain and find brief moments of joy, even if only for a little while
When she arrived at Durham University for her interview all those years ago (yes, there used to be interviews!), she immediately fell in love with the nature of this place. The River Wear, the Sands, and the movements of animals painted a serene picture of nature, one which she could admire every day from her bedroom window. She would walk around town, across Millburngate, along the rivers, around the Viaduct, spending hours watching birds and fishes dancing in the sunlight. She recollected that there was one occasion where she saw “two camels on the Sands in Durham, chewing leisurely on grass as if they’ve never left the desert”; they were from a circus that had arrived in Durham.
For Nic, Trevs was the most welcoming environment she could have asked for in university. Back then, Trevs had required all interviewees to stay overnight after the interview to socialize. It wasn’t hard for her to make friends in this welcoming environment; however, her landing mates and soon her housemates were all boys studying STEM, so she was often the odd one out. This worked out in her favour, as she could wake up to the sunrise and appreciate the view of rabbits eating flowers, while listening to her housemates scramble for those dreaded 9AM lectures. Her favourite memories of Trevs included listening to heavy metal music (her boyfriend was a big fan), chasing each other around on wild adventures, and chatting past midnight (she would fall asleep before midnight, so her friends would have to carry her back to her room!).
Living in Trevs meant that Nic both benefitted from and contributed to community life, which included societies and college events. Nic had applied for Trevs specifically because of its choir, only to find that it had disbanded by the time she joined. Instead of giving up, she instead formed her own choir with her friends and even arranged with Durham Cathedral to lead Evensong annually! She is also actively involved in Dungeons & Dragons, musical theatre, and other aspects of college life, with one of her fondest memories being a fight on giant water inflatables in the courtyard. She thoroughly enjoyed every single moment of college life, even as she continued to struggle with her chronic illnesses.
She thoroughly enjoyed every single moment of college life, even as she continued to struggle with her chronic illnesses
Nic’s journey has only become richer after her beloved university life ended. Following her graduation, she resided in Durham for an additional 6 years as an English teacher, before moving to North Hertfordshire with her husband in the early 2000s for a job. She had initially felt alienated in Hertfordshire “like a Northerner in the South”, as she regarded Durham as her home, but she overcame that barrier by studying the new geology of the land and examining how chalk in the soil is interrelated with plant and animal life. While Hertfordshire never replaced the homely feel of Durham, her studies and volunteering experiences with a local gardening team gave her a sense of belonging in a new home.
It was during her 40s when Nic’s desire for writing took root. She had lived many fulfilling experiences in nature; now, she wanted to put her thoughts out to the world. While she had written about her gardening when taking care of her children at home, she never regarded it as an official career until then. So, she embarked on yet another transition into a freelance writer, starting small from local nature magazines to contributing to national news companies such as The Guardian and BBC Gardeners’ World Magazine. She details brief intimate moments that leave readers with a sense of appreciation for nature: her first article on The Guardian examines the fascinating medicinal histories of deadly nightshade despite their poisonous properties (Link here). She also contributed short stories to many nature anthologies, such as Going to Ground, The Clearing, and Moving Mountains.
She had lived many fulfilling experiences in nature; now, she wanted to put her thoughts out to the world
One of the best aspects of her new life was the community that she found with fellow nature writers. They shared the same passion for nature and recognized the need for generosity and kindness in interpersonal relationships, something that she truly appreciated after having endured unrelenting symptoms of pain and fatigue alone for so long. They were the ones to encourage her to write her first memoir, Land Beneath the Waves, which gave her the opportunity to free herself from the darkness in her past and look towards the future. Now, she is an active member of this community, hosting talks and workshops such as a fantasy writing workshop and the Brontë festival, and sharing her book with others.
Nowadays, nature has become an inseparable part of Nic’s life. She would admire and think about the rich historical stories that trees bring when walking past them in her everyday life. Despite the recent trends surrounding nature and wellbeing, Nic believes that being in nature “shouldn’t be a transactional experience” where you exchange time for mental health; we should focus on just enjoying nature as it happens in our life. In fact, she had been miserably cooped up in bed for a week from accidentally consuming gluten before this session, but seeing a red kite fly by her window had lifted her spirits just enough to make the effort to come to Trevs.
Being in nature shouldn’t be a transactional experience where you exchange time for mental health; we should focus on just enjoying nature as it happens in our life
To end the session, Nic offered some advice: freshers, treasure your landing mates, try new things, and pursue interests that you’re excited about; prospective writers, don’t worry about rules in writing, and write what excites you the most; chronic illness patients, give time for yourself to self-care, and find friends that understand. Most importantly, she urged us to release ourselves from our past and appreciate the present moment.
So, I’d like to offer a big thank you to Nic for sharing her experiences to the Trevs community, and I hope you’ve been inspired by her experiences. If you would like to be even more inspired, look out for our upcoming articles in this series, or check out our Trevelyanites series as well!
Image Credit: Steve Granger
Wilson, N. (2020). Country diary: a toxic beauty waits among the nettles. The Guardian. Retrieved 21st October from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/17/country-diary-a-toxic-beauty-waits-among-the-nettles
Wilson, N. (2025). Land Beneath the Waves. Summerdale.
Wilson, N. (2026). Nic Wilson. Retrieved 21st October from https://nicwilson.co.uk/
Leave a Reply