I completed a double major in Psychology and Sports Science.
I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to have studied the degree I did, and that the actual course started in 2013 and not a year later! It is a key part of the narrative of my journey so far, and I have consequently explained it to interviewers and described it in personal statements with ease. It of course also provides ample opportunity to describe the ‘soft skills’ the course helps nurture as well, including strong leadership, collaboration and lateral thinking – a result of the core breadth modules, trips and discussions I valued highly, which helped set us apart from other courses.
I was fortunate enough to get a job working as a personal trainer in a gym in South London, a passion I have held for a number of years. Having had limited experience prior to taking this role, it has been an amazing place for me to advance my skills, training a range of clients with goals ranging from physique changes to athletic performance. It is the latter that has most captured my interest though, and so I travelled to Budapest, Hungary to take part in an EXOS Performance Mentorship course all about optimising the performance of athletes.
Since then I began a journey to become an accredited strength and conditioning coach through the UKSCA, practicing field-based speed, strength and mobility work with a football team. I am currently halfway through implementing the pre-season strength and conditioning programme I have planned with this football team, working with 100 different youth players from 10-15 years of age. In all the training I do, as a PT and strength coach, there is an emphasis on sound movement patterns using my knowledge of motor learning and control.
The flexibility of the degree made this realisation of my passion for Neuroscience possible, allowing a module selection not plausible with any other degree. In fact, by the end of second year I had only completed one module in Sport Science. On completion of my degree however, I had completed a whole range of Sport Science modules, including a final dissertation in Motor Control and Biomechanics.