Edidiong Essien

When deciding where to do your undergraduate degree, what was the main reason you chose Birmingham?

The main reason I chose the University of Birmingham was that I visited the campus during one of the summer open days back when I was in year 12. Seeing how beautiful the campus was secured the deal for me – I knew I wanted to come here. I liked the fact that it was a campus university and that everything was in the same area. I also liked that it was a short walk from the student accommodation. I grew up in a big city, so I knew Birmingham was going to be a comfortable move for me.

How have you found managing your time, and how has the university supported you with this?

My timetable ensures that I have enough free time for social activities as well as independent study. On my course, each module has recommended hours that you should spend studying on them which helps me allocate studying time in my weekly timetable.

What are your top 3 tips for prospective students? What do you wish you had known when deciding where to study?

1. Make sure to research the specific modules on your course as different universities will teach different modules. Then you can pick the university with the modules you are most interested in and/or the ones that will be most useful to you in your desired future career.
2. Join a society! There is a society for anything and everything. UoB has over 300 – you’ll definitely find something you enjoy. It’s a good way to make new friends and unwind from uni work. I’ve made a lot of my close friends from psychology netball.
3. Get up and do something every day even if it is just going on a walk. Spend time exploring the city because you are only in university for a couple of years – make it count. The independence and free time you have in university makes it hard to be productive and easy to lie around in bed all day. I’m in my final year and it feels like I only arrived yesterday – time will fly by so experience as much as you can!

What are your future career plans after graduation?

After graduation, I plan on taking a gap year and just working, hopefully in teaching. Then I would like to do a master’s in educational psychology or occupational psychology, as I would like to be an educational or occupational psychologist.

In one sentence, please summarise your favourite memory at UoB so far:

I have a lot of amazing memories at UoB, but I think one of my favourites is definitely when it was the end of the semester and my friends and I were walking around campus after a lecture. It was memorable because there were markets set up around campus with yummy food and cute collectibles. It was a fun day!