Hello we are Pauline, Valeria and Olivia, and we all study BSc Psychology. Each month we will be sharing our experiences and our top tips to get the most out of your time here. Find out more about what it’s like living in London and studying at King’s,. We hope you will get a real insight into the student experience.
Who we are
Pauline: Hello! I am a 3rd year on the BSc Psychology course. I did the International Baccalaureate and then took two years out before university to work for a charity. I still work there now part-time as the work is related to Psychology. I am not sure what I want to do after I graduate but I am not worried as there are so many places a Psychology degree can take you — for example, last summer I did a King’s Undergraduate Research Fellowship at Science Gallery London and the year before I interned at the Wellcome Trust. I am going to take some time out after graduation to travel and explore all the different things my degree will allow me to pursue!
I love the BSc Psychology course. The teaching staff are all really passionate and the effort they put in really pays off, the course is completely up-to-date and exciting. They are always passing on details of opportunities for work, further study and volunteering which opens many doors throughout the course and beyond. We get to choose a large amount of our modules which enables you to either specialise or pursue a broad range of interests and related fields – you can take external modules and language modules too! As the course is only a few years old, all of our facilities were purpose built for us. This makes for a really great learning environment.
Valeria: I’m a 3rd year international student from Hong Kong, I completed the International Baccalaureate and came straight to King’s. During my time at here, I’ve assisted in many research projects, including one which cumulated in a published paper during my first year! I’ve also done a summer placement at Camden and Islington NHS Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) service for 10 weeks. Whilst I’m hoping to go down the Clinical Psychology route, I’m content with looking for smaller opportunities which relate to helping service users directly. I’ve applied for a graduate placement scheme for a position after I graduate, and am hoping to apply to several research positions.
Olivia: Hi everyone! I’m Liv, a 2nd year psychology student here at King’s. I’m a Student Ambassador for the psychology BSc and part of the social media team. Although I may not look it (being ginger and pale) I hold both British and Spanish nationalities and came to uni as an overseas student. During my first year I lived in King’s accommodation (Wolfson House), so if you have any questions related to this or absolutely anything else, let me know and I’ll be happy to help!
What we like most about studying here
Pauline: The course has a large amount of international students which makes for a culturally rich environment. It is exciting to learn about other people’s backgrounds through day-to-day interactions with other students. The Psychology Society organises loads of great events such as an international dinner where everyone brings a dish from their country.
Valeria: King’s has provided a multitude of opportunities that I would not have received, if not for their extensive NHS links. Due to their connection with Bethlem Royal Hospital in South London, I was able to visit patients with psychosis and talk to them about their experience in the NHS. I also use the connection for our placement students to get a summer placement at an IAPT service, an invaluable experience that has helped me understand the job and career field further.
Olivia: My most exciting part of coming to King’s was the new experience, moving away from home, and meeting so many new and amazing people. The prospect of choosing a degree so new seemed scary at first, but I soon came to realise this is a massive asset. The course leaders are extremely responsive to student feedback and the course is far more progressive and innovative than others.
During first year, my favourite modules were Inspirational Research and Addressing Problems. Both of these are innovative modules which aren’t offered on regular psychology degrees (one of the many perks of it being a new course). Inspirational research is about exposing us to a new area of psychological research each fortnight, brought to us by leading researchers in the field. You get a real feel and up-to-date insight into the current research being undertaken at the IoPPN. This exposure led me to discover areas of interest I had never even considered. Then there’s Addressing Problems. Have you ever sat in class and thought, ‘it’s great learning all this theory, but how can it be applied in real life and day-to-day?’ Well, this module tackles just that. Each semester we were divided into groups, and presented with a current real-world issue: in first term this was Brexit, followed by Knife Crime in London in the second. The topics in themselves are interesting, but applying psychology and the knowledge acquired in the other core modules allows you to explore them in greater depth and apply everything you know in a more practical way.
What we’re most looking forward to
Pauline: I am just at the start of my last semester at King’s and I am most looking forward to making this the best semester yet and getting involved with and trying out lots of things. There are so many talks and events and societies on campus, every day there are multiple things that you can do. In third year you choose all of your modules and I am also really excited to get into material that I am really interested in and might like to pursue in my future career.
Val: As this is my last year, my research project has pushed me to further myself and explore what the IoPPN can offer. There are many resources that we can utilise in order to help us during this process. I’ve gotten to interact with participants, administer IQ questionnaires and collate my own data. I look forward to seeing what results come out from this!
Olivia: Now I’m half way through my second year, and so far I’d have to say my favourite module has been Distorted Worlds. This explores how our perception and memory can be altered and “play tricks” on us, with topics such as delusions in psychosis, vision and optical illusions, and the influence of the social world on our perception. Currently, at the start of my second semester, I’m extremely excited as I’ve been able to select the models I’ll take, choosing Philosophy and psychology, Clinical psychology, Quantitative research, and Research with vulnerable groups. I’ll keep you updated on how these go on!
That’s it for now, we look forward to hearing from you, you’re questions about the course, modules, or anything related to uni life! From accommodation to finances, we are here to help. Also, if there is anything in particular you would like us to write about, maybe a specific aspect of life in London or as a student at King’s, let us know!
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