Psychology Student, Maya Khitrova, now in her second year, shares with us how she made her decision to study with us at Kent, and now that she is here, how the ethos, facilities and encouragement are benefitting her journey.
‘Choosing what and where to study is hard. It’s a challenging choice to make, especially when you are 17 and the more you search, the more fascinating opportunities you find. For me, it was not an instant match. Bouncing between arts and sciences. Our senses, memories, the beauty of nature and our very perspective on life itself, which I had the urge to understand did not seem to all fit into one. I just did not know what to choose, and there was nothing I felt like fitted me enough, and completely. Until it clicked.
‘Psychology is the study of human mind and behaviour. We seek to understand what underpins every piece of puzzle in the complicated multidimensional network of the human mind. What is underlining every one of our actions, starting from a smile, and ending with dreaming and problem-solving.’
The human mind always fascinated me. Why do we re-listen to those 2 or 3 songs, driven to return to those powerful feelings brought up in those priceless moments? The ones that helplessly fade away every day further and further. The flower that bloomed so beautifully dries out, we lose the details as they fall off one by one like petals, blending deeper and deeper somewhere into the back of our brain. After that we carefully gather our dry plant, attempting to assemble the leftovers piece by piece, petal by petal, in their chronological order, and save them in our herbarium. Why does music smell like memories? When we happen to open our herbarium book, accidentally awakened by a song on the street, immersing into the scent of those carefully saved flowers, refreshing memories page by page, we fill up with implausible energy, which touches somewhere at the bottom without asking and carries away. Why is life measured in moments? Only left to wonder how far your thoughts and understanding are from the pretty delightful philosophy which accompanies all those scenes, which again, are born inside this grey material under the heavy bones of our skulls.
It was there that it clicked. Psychology is the study of human mind and behaviour. We seek to understand what underpins every piece of puzzle in the complicated multidimensional network of the human mind. What is underlining every one of our actions, starting from a smile, and ending with dreaming and problem-solving. At that time, it was too late for me to take psychology half-way through my A-levels. But at Kent that was never a problem. While many students were already acquainted with psychology, (as many concepts are interlinked with A-level content), I did not feel at any disadvantage incorporating into the course.
From the first moment what surprised me the most at Kent was the immense change in atmosphere that engulfed me. I found myself surrounded by people extremely passionate about their subject. From my course mates to academics, all striving for knowledge, discovery, ideas. It’s infectiously inspiring. It became difficult to walk past and not get involved. The academic research in the Psychology department at Kent is very advanced. We have a variety of equipment allowing us to bring real life as close as possible to the lab. We have eye-trackers that produce heat maps of where people look at, EEGs to investigate the electrical brain activity during sleep, child development unit with a database of over 5000 participants aged 0 to 10. Not forgetting the ‘Bar Lab’, where we study the effect of alcohol on individuals.
What I enjoy the most is probably the diversity of the learning in the course. We study a broad rage of specific psychological disciplines such as Psychology of Groups, Child Development, Clinical Psychology, Forensic Psychology, and others. All our teaching is heavily based on the research of the school’s academics, meaning everything we learn comes first-hand from professionals in the field – the people who advance the science. Another important aspect is the practicality of our knowledge. We never learn anything unnecessary or unrelated – everything relevant and instantly applicable.
I am a firm believer that there is much more to life than theory, no matter how applicable. And there is much more to university than the hard skills it teaches you, no matter how useful. Perhaps one of the biggest takeaways from my degree so far is that we will never know the answer. Because the truth is, we will never come close to touching the truth, in life there is no right or wrong solution. There is no black, or white, and unfortunately, nothing is ever perfect. That is why here at Kent we learn how to learn. We learn how to search for our own answers. How to think critically, how to consider, solve, how to see microscopic details in a wider picture, take them into consideration, and improve on those bases.
Now in the middle of the second year of my degree, I am only at the start of my journey. The learning does not end. Fully immersed in my studies, I yet don’t know where they will take me. And that is the beauty. We develop for growth – I don’t grow for an ending. For me, life is a process, the road from A to wherever I end up, not the destination. And, actually, I hope to never end up at B, I hope to always be on the road. I hope to keep walking the path, watching the stars, over 3 hours in that moist grass, breathing in the cutting lung ice-cold air, feeling connected to the world. Observing much like the palm of my hand, the sky unfolding its immense horizons in front of my eyes, of which it feels like I am experiencing for the first time, absorbed by the silent darkness. Fully feeling the peaceful harmony of our subtle presence, that’s what it’s like – living in the moment, ignoring the cold. I hope to keep learning about myself, the world that surrounds us, its people, and what unites us. Thanks to Kent this is all possible and open to me in the best environment and conditions, alongside the most inspiring people, who are living, learning, and growing too. I am grateful to be a part of its journey.
Come to Kent, experience with us. Join our learning.’
Maya Khitrova is studying for a BSc (Hons) in Psychology.