As a third year undergraduate, I can safely say Psychology has taught me so much more than what I expected. When I came to university I thought I would leave with a little extra knowledge on behaviour, however what I have really ended up learning about is the following:

• To have a critical outlook:

The first thing they teach you is that no paper in psychology is perfect. I got taught early on to analyse different aspects of papers critically, however it did not stop there. I soon realised that this skill could be applied to anything – newspaper articles, fad diets – anything with unreliable claim I now am able to see straight through!

• The importance of statistics:

Kind of following on, the importance of statistics and understanding the basis of different methods is something I have found invaluable. Statistics helps explain so much, and the way it is taught (by absolutely excellent lecturers, might I add!) focuses much more on understanding the need for statistics than on the maths.

• How dynamic and exciting academia is at Edinburgh

Academia was something I never thought I would go into when I first arrived. Flash forward to today, I have completed my own research project as well as been a research assistant for a prominent researcher. It is such an exciting time for psychology, as the world is starting to see its value and applications to different areas, and contributing to the research which makes this possible is something which is so encouraged by the staff!