What I’ll take away from my postgraduate experience
Tom Williams
Investigative Psychology MSC
Hi, I'm Tom and I'm studying my Master's in Investigative Psychology. My hobbies involve running, playing guitar and watching Leeds play the losing team. I also have a passion for writing, reading and anything involving animals.
It doesn’t feel that long ago since I sat down to write a blog post about my experience of undergraduate and what I had taken from that time. Now, a year later, I’m nearing the end of my postgraduate journey and feeling reflective once again, but this time with slightly longer hair – although I am wearing the exact same Huddersfield University top I wore when I wrote the last post (I’ve worn other clothes in-between I promise)!
Looking back, I would be remiss if I didn’t thank the University staff for all the help they’ve provided me during this year, especially with the global situation that has engulfed us all for the past year. As a 22 year old, I’m embarrassed to admit that when it comes to technology, I’m perhaps the least adept in my entire family when it comes to any technological admin, ranking below my 86 year nan and my 11 year old dog, who could probably run over the keyboard and still make a better spreadsheet on Microsoft excel then I ever could.
So, when it came to doing an entire year online, I was slightly apprehensive, especially with the software downloads needed for some of the psychological analyses I had to do. But the University staff and the course lecturers quickly dampened my fears, giving us step by step guidance on all the technological issues we might experience and being considerate when these issues arose, like if a student couldn’t connect to a lecture or if a software wasn’t compatible with a certain brand of computer. They were always available with alternative routes around a problem, which made the whole experience a lot less dauting, especially for someone who struggles to tell if a computer is off or on standby. No matter the circumstances, the University always seems to be able to still provide endless support and guidance, regardless of the topic or subject.
So, what have I actually taken away from this year of postgraduate study, besides hopefully a master’s degree in Investigative Psychology (fingers crossed)? Well, this year has not only provided me with interesting content and knowledge about the subject I love but has also helped me craft genuine goals and gain direction for the future, something I was perhaps lacking before University. If you ask anyone who knows me well enough, planning more than a day ahead was never really something I could do and there are still moments now where I get asked if I’m free on a particular day and I still reply ‘ask me on the day’. Beside the odd moments where I morph into the worst person to make plans with, postgraduate study has not only helped me improve my everyday planning and time management, but has encouraged and facilitated more active decisions in my everyday life and beyond.
I discussed in my previous blog how undergraduate study helped me to gain more confidence and time management skills, while teaching me how to balance a social life with work, research, and deadlines. Looking at those skills now, my postgraduate experience has not only helped maintain these improvements but reinforce and cement these attributes into my approach to everyday life. For anyone reading this and wondering what they will gain from completing postgraduate study, beyond academic achievement, the experience will help you gain and develop skills that can help you not only in your career but in everyday life. I have certainly benefitted from the improvements to my work and social life balance, even if that social life is filled with the occasional conversation about ‘how do you not know if you’re free or not’.
Now looking ahead at what’s next, I have decided to stay in Huddersfield and have applied to do a PhD in Psychology, which was always my aspiration, but was made much clearer thanks to this year doing postgraduate study. I would highly recommend that anyone who wants to undertake a PhD, should consider a postgraduate master’s course first, as it not only helps you refine what you want to explore at a PhD level but allows you to explore further career directions and interact with outside professionals from numerous different fields to gain a wider understanding as to what you want to achieve in your career. Maybe at the end of my PhD experience I’ll write a third blog to cap off the trilogy of my educational journey in higher education. Like I said in the last blog, although I have no idea what the next year holds, I know that Huddersfield is the right place to do it in.
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