Former undergraduate Psychology student and current Clinical Psychology Master’s student, Octavia, writes about the support they’ve received from staff and the impact it has had on their studies.
Back in secondary school, I was used to talking to teachers and asking my classmates for help if I needed it. So when I first came to university, I was concerned that support wouldn’t be available.
Thankfully, there is a lot of support available at the University of Kent for psychology students.
Personally, I really struggled with my academic writing when I first got to university. It seemed that no matter how many YouTube videos, blog posts or resources I read about how to improve your academic writing. None of it helped me. Therefore, I reached out to one of my main lecturers and my academic advisor and both of them gave me actionable, useful insights into how to improve.
This was a relief for me because it showed me that the lecturers and teaching staff at Kent are there for you. The lecturers want to help you, engage with you and they want you to succeed. You can email your lecturers or go to their “office hours” to ask them questions and they are always happy to help you.
You might be nervous about reaching out to lecturers for support, but in my experience, the teaching staff at Kent are friendly, compassionate and they understand what it’s like to be a student. They struggled with the same things during their degree so they’re happy to support you.
Statistics is another area I know students are concerned about.
In my undergraduate degree, I really struggled with R Studio, the statistics software we use in psychology, but I reached out to my lecturers and the Assistant Lecturers and they supported me. Without their help, I might not have passed my exam. Honestly, I’m grateful that I went to Kent because there is a lot of support available here from the friendly lecturers and beyond. For example, there are workshops, your coursemates and lots of online resources to support you too.
Coming to university might be daunting, but there is more support available than you ever thought possible at Kent.
Find out more about the Psychology with a Year in Professional Practice BSc, the Clinical Psychology MSc and the student support services across the University of Kent.