I firstly chose Kent for the city of Canterbury. Canterbury had a really safe and homely feel to it, and I liked that there were other universities in the city so there are plenty of students around. However, I also chose Kent for practical reasons; it was high up in the league tables, and it was a good distance away from my home town for me. I was also completely sold on how great the campus was \u2013 I loved that everything you needed was on campus; supermarkets, library, cafes, bars, clubs etc.<\/p>\n
What do you wish you’d have known before University?<\/strong><\/p>\n I wish I’d have been told the benefits of a placement year or a year abroad. Particularly for my course, jobs can be so competitive once you’ve graduated and I know that if I’d have done a placement year, it would have boosted my CV more.<\/p>\n What was your favourite thing about campus?<\/strong><\/p>\n This is a really hard question because there are loads of great things about Kent campus! I loved having places like K Bar in my uni building, because it was just a nice place to meet friends at lunch or after lectures. I also thoroughly enjoyed having noodle vans parked up on campus; it made for a really easy lunch or dinner after lectures. As well, the library was somewhere I would go to a lot and I feel like Kent’s library was always such a nice place to be. There were so many different areas depending on what you needed at the time, and lots of cafes to go to.<\/p>\n What was your favourite thing about Canterbury?<\/strong><\/p>\n I just enjoyed all of Canterbury town – there are so many cute cafes hidden away down the cobbled streets so I loved just wandering around there.<\/p>\n Did you work PT alongside your studies?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n I did work part-time alongside my studies – I got a job with Kent Union and worked as a Barista in the Library Caf\u00e9. This job was very flexible with hours and most staff were other students, so the balance of this work alongside my studies was really easy. I believe I only had to work 4 hours a week minimum. I could choose shifts in and around my lectures really easily, but could also swap shifts with other students depending on workload and exams if needed. I would highly recommend getting a job like this!<\/p>\n Did you join any sports or societies?<\/strong><\/p>\n I joined Kent Cheer in my second year, mainly to try something new! I’m quite a shy person however so didn’t want to join in any competitions, but Cheer allowed for this. It was a really great way of making friends and keeping involved in events. I’d definitely recommend joining sports or societies when at uni as it’s a great opportunity to try something new that you don’t tend to get once graduated.<\/p>\n What is your current role and how did you get that role?<\/strong><\/p>\n I currently work in the NHS as an Assistant Psychologist in the Looked After Children’s Mental Health Team. As I mentioned earlier, I wish I had chosen to do a placement year as I think that would have made my journey into this role a lot shorter than it has been! Once I graduated from Kent, I moved on to do a MSc in Clinical Psychology at University of Sussex. Whilst I was studying here, I worked part-time on the Bank in the NHS in various roles: healthcare assistant on a mental health inpatient ward, admin assistant for the crisis team, and as a research assistant. I also volunteered for the charity Young Minds working on the parent helpline. Once I graduated from my MSc, I got a full-time job as a research assistant and worked there for a year. And then after many applications to various different Assistant Psychologist roles, I succeeded, and have currently been in this role now for just over 2 years.<\/p>\n
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