Why I study Psychology and Criminology - Alishba's Story
Second year student Alishba talks to us about her experience of study Psychology and Criminology at Salford.
Why did you choose to study at Salford?
The University of Salford was my top choice mainly due to its distance as I could get to it my train or a car when I wanted to. Furthermore, Manchester town was few bus stops away or a 30-minute walk, which made it much better than my second choice university as it didn’t have a town close by.
What made you want to study your chosen course?
My interest in criminology and criminal law was what made me choose psychology and criminology as my degree. Choosing psychology was mainly due to A-level psychology I did in college. This degree can get me to my dream job in the future as I want to work as forensic scientist or psychologist.
Tell us a bit about your course and the modules you have already studied
My course contains module for each of my subject. There are 2 modules (cognitive and bio psychology; and further research method) for psychology part of the degree and 1 module (theoretical criminology) for criminology part of my degree. We get an option to choose an optional module for our second semester which is part of the criminology side. I picked ‘Violence in Society’ as I found that interesting to study.
How do you learn on the course?
My course mostly consists of assignments and a few exams, so we have to do lots of literature research and readings. Though we may not have any lab work or field work, we do enjoy going years of research from the past and present to come to few conclusions for our assignments. It’s a lot of work but we do get to do computerised experiments to collect our data and may get to do in person experiments for our dissertation in 3rd years such as interviews.
Do you get involved in any other extracurricular activities in your spare time?
In my first year I had a lot of time on my hands to do spare work such as volunteering but now in my second year I have gotten quite busy, so I try to find time for my hobbies over the weekends if I don’t have any assignments due such as baking and developing new recipes. I have joined a few societies such as Italian society, its quite helpful to have friends and if threes an event you can have somewhere to go to relax.
What support is on hand for your studies?
There is lots of support available throughout the university, primarily being your own lectures and module leaders but you can get specific support from the staff on your assignments, and they help you understand what is needed and how to do it.
What do you want to do once you’ve graduated?
I haven’t graduated yet but I know once you do the University of Salford helps you look out for you careers and get support for introducing you to companies that may benefit you.
What’s your one piece of advice for someone studying at Salford?
Make friends, join societies and try and not give up when times become hard. You came here to study so get your head in the game but take a few minutes for yourself between as well.
This course is amazing and full of amazing staff to help you with but be cautious for the research method module, that module takes people by surprise!