A year abroad in Italy, competing in the Three Peaks Challenge, winning the Employabilty Points Runner Up Award and now an Internship in digital marketing. Read about Katherine’s experience of Psychology at Kent.
Katherine is a recent BSc Psychology graduate on the Year Abroad programme. She recently won the Employability Points Scheme Runners Up award commending her for High employability achievement. Read more about her university experience in this blog.
Why did you choose to study Psychology at Kent?
I discovered Kent whilst looking at my clearing options for university. I attended the Clearing open day and fell in love with the campus and the lecturers all showed a real passion for the subject. Psychology for me I initially chose because I was not sure what I wanted to go into after university and I knew that psychology was a highly desirable degree, I have also always had a love of the brain so learning more about that really appealed to me.
Get stuck in from day one with everything you love, and don’t be scared to ask questions.
What was your favourite part of the course?
My favourite module at university was forensic psychology in my final year, learning about a variety of topics such as animal cruelty.
I also really enjoying learning about hemispatial neglect, a topic that I originally learnt about in my year abroad and it was great to have the opportunity to delve further into it through my final year module ‘the neuroscience of cognitive disorders’.
How was your year abroad experience?
My year abroad was based in Padova, in North Italy. The first 6 months were incredible. You get to meet so many people from all around the world. I was very lucky with the flat that I got as we all got on really well and still chat regularly. Sadly due to COVID-19 my year abroad got cut short but I still made incredible memories and friendships, and covid allowed me to get some work experience with the NHS in communications and as a vaccinator which has benefited me tenfold as I gained essential experience both for further studying and my career. I’d recommend a year abroad to everyone and advise them to jump in and get involved as much as possible.
How did you get your current internship?
I am currently completing my summer internship at Reflect Digital, a digital marketing company based in Maidstone, Kent. I first found out about Reflect Digital when I attended a call hosted by Becky Simms (Reflects CEO). The call inspired me to find out more about the opportunities available so I contacted Reflect. I then found out that through the University of Kent careers Employability Points scheme they had an internship as one of the rewards. I had collected enough points to apply for the reward and was successful in getting to an interview stage and receiving the reward. So far I am halfway through my internship and I am loving it, the support given is great and we get real responsibility from day one. It is great to get stuck in.
How was your social life at Kent?
I was very involved in the social aspect of kent -volunteering, society events and sports.
There are so many societies at Kent available to you so you are bound to find one you are interested in, and if you can’t then you can create your own!
I highly recommend joining a sports team and volunteering.
For me, one of my highlights of final year was completing the Three Peaks Challenge with Kent RAG, collectively raising over £15,000 for the National Autistic Society. It was a challenge but it was 100% worth it.
What are your career aspirations/ next steps after uni?
I want to work for a year to save some money, gain relevant experience and learn more about different aspects of cognition to figure out what I want to specialise in at masters level. Then I want to do a masters in Cognitive Neuroscience.
What advice would you give to anyone starting their journey at Kent?
Get stuck in from day one with everything you love, and don’t be scared to ask questions.
Katherine studied a Psychology BSc (Hons) with a Year abroad, see here for how to apply.