A day in the life of a Psychology student

Psychology is a course with a broad range of topics, from developmental to cognitive psychology. No two days while studying this course will ever be the same.

Once I started studying this course it enlightened me to how many different concepts and ideas are included and how psychology can be integrated into every part of our lives. In the first year, we have around 8 modules and even though we do have quite a bit of contact time most of the work we are required to do is individual work. We have around 2 research reports and 5 essays that we complete during the first year so this requires a lot of individual study time.

Aside from lectures we also have workshops, seminars and computer labs. The workshops and seminars are put in place to help us dive deeper into specific modules and specific ideas to help us gain a better understanding of the topic. They also help us provide more information and help with our coursework and exams. We also have tutorials in small groups where we further develop our skills like critical analysis skills or essay/report writing skills. Computer labs are intended to support us in performing the statistical tests that we must learn how to do effectively for our quantitative experiments and reports. We use software like Jamovi and RStudios to help us carry out statistical tests easily and to code for our stats tests.

My days typically start around 9 am unless I have lectures at 9 am or 10 am which I will then need to be up by 7/8 am to be ready on time.

As psychology is a course that is very content heavy during each lecture I try to make as many effective notes as I can. I then go back to my accommodation to further consolidate everything I have learnt that day by making more notes which are easier to understand and also by making flashcards for the modules which I will be assessed on by an exam. This helps reduce my workload when exam times come closer as I can start revising straight away instead of making notes.

My days usually end around 7/8 considering lectures and work done after lectures. After consolidating my work from that day I'm able to go out with my friends. On the weekends I try to finish any extra work for assignments on Saturday so I have the whole day on Sunday to rest and do things I would like to do outside of my studies.

All in all, Psychology is a very interesting subject and anyone can thoroughly enjoy the course with the right mindset. Studying this course requires a lot of independent studying time due to the amount of content. Still, with good organisation skills, it is easy to navigate how we allocate our extra time for studies without it interfering with our social life.