Course: Psychology
Level: Third year
Hometown: London
Other information: I came to University after working for a bit. I recently took part in the Academic Development Centre Study Tour of UNC Charlotte (one of the universities that students from Kingston can exchange to).
I am part of two sports clubs: Dance and Jitsu. I am also in the middle of joining the Kingston Psychology Society (within the next month the society will be up and running). I am also a Student Ambassador at Kingston. Aside from University I am also a committee member of the SLTN (Student Learning Teaching Network) which is a national committee that tries to improve the student experience for people all over the UK at different institutions.
I chose Kingston because... When I came and visited Kingston (on an Open Day) I realised how diverse the University was, not just in ethnicities but in the types of people also. I thought it would be a great place to make friends with people of all walks of life.
Additionally I found that Kingston was in a great location and the course that I was hoping to study (psychology) was said to have great teaching and good resources for support and guidence whilst doing my degree. I also found that in comparison to other universities, Kingston gave seminars as well as lectures which meant that you would have time after a lecture to discuss material in a small group of around 20 compared to asking lots of questions in a lecture theatre filled with around 200 students. This I found to be very useful to me as it can feel intimidating in a big lecture theatre and you want to discuss things you aren't sure about. Some friends I knew had also come to Kingston and expressed how much they enjoyed it so Kingston became my first choice and I am very glad that I chose to come here.
I have got to where I am now.... There was a time when I was very unsure about my academic abilities, so straight from school I went in to employment, which I really enjoyed but I felt inside that I could do more and I could go and get a degree and achieve all the things that I dreamed about. I had dreams and aspirations of being a psychologist but it only became a reality when I pushed myself into going back into education and it is the best thing I could have done. I was influenced by friends and family who had already been at university and they encouraged me to think about it and reassured me that if you have determination and drive you can achieve anything. This is something I really believe in, if we have self belief and that bit of confidence to just put our foot in the door we can go on and achieve what ever dreams we may have.
My plans for the future are... I hope to achieve a great class degree at Kingston and then go on to do either a postgraduate or PHD (research) in a particular field in psychology and eventually become a chartered psychologist and have my own practise.
Half Way through Semester!!! Eeekk.
Posted 23 Mar 2012 by Bisi
Sooo what have I been up to in the last few weeks...quite a lot!! A couple of weeks ago I did some A...
New Year - 2012... Fresh start... Exams done!
Posted 31 Jan 2012 by Bisi
Hi! This is officially my first blog, so in advance -thanks for spending the time to read it ; ) Le...
Go to maybe an hour or two hour lecture then have a break, go for lunch with friends, either in Kingston town centre or in the food court at Penrhyn Road. Maybe if there is time go shopping in Kingston as it is the 2nd biggest shopping centre after London,so you can always find nice stuff. Then maybe go to the Student Union bar, play some pool and chill out. Then I might have an hour seminar to attend then its usually 'home time'. If you have work to do it's usually to go to the library where you can find quiet spots to read of write. If it's a Tuesday of Friday I would go and attend a dance class in the evening to take my mind off of studies. It's good to have extra curicluar activities as it allows you to forget about assignments and work for a couple of hours. my motto 'work hard, play hard' work/study hard but have a lot of fun as well, go out in the evenings, go for a drink or to a party, go to a sports club and join in on the action, it's also a great way to make friends from other fields of study!!
I cannot live without my Blackberry phone, as all my uni emails come to it and it keeps me up to date with any changes that might happen (room changes or cancellation of lectures). I also couldnt live without the internet, as this is where most of my research etc is from. Finally - Downtime!! if I didn't have activities to do for a couple of hours a week I would have got really stressed out. University isn't all about 'study, study, study' you need to occupy your mind in other things as well so you dont get to over worked or exausted.
Ensure that you attend Fresher's Fayre so that you get a feel for all the great clubs and societies you can join. Going to Fresher's Fayre I believe helps you get more involved and draws you into all the great things that Kingston has to offer. Also make sure you talk to your lecturers and tutors about any worries you have! REMEMBER you are paying for you tuition make sure you get the most out of what you are paying, it is your right to have a good HE education as you pay for it. Utilise all of the facilites for example the Centre for Academic Support and Employability, this is a great support facility if you ever have trouble with academic writing or even CVs. Ensure you make the most out of these things as it is bound to help improve your studies and of course your grades.
"I came to university knowing that to become a psychologist I would need a degree (minimum). Additionally I came to university to have the experience, I didn't want to miss out on making great friends and essentially what will probably be the best time of my life. University tests you, in the beginning you may be a little out of your comfort zone but when you are settled and know what your doing, you will be so happy you decided to further yourself and develop you as a person. "
"It was a great relief to confirm my place at Kingston, but it is very common for students to come through clearing so what I would advise is that, there is always a plan B, if you have to go through clearing don't panic."
"I didn't do A-levels so once I had worked for a few years I already had in mind what I wanted to do so I picked an Access to HE course that would take me directly to the degree I wanted to do. If there was anything I would've done differently it would have been to take a language alongside my degree as this is something that is not only beneficial to you as you can speak more than one language but employers like to see that you have other skills other than what you gain from your degree."
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