When I was in secondary school, my mum told me about her time at university, where she studied psychology. She showed me some of her old textbooks, and I immediately saw why the subject appealed to her —I found the idea of studying human behaviour and mental processes fascinating. My secondary school had an arrangement with a local College of Further Education which allowed final-year school pupils to attend college for one afternoon a week in order to study Highers (the Scottish equivalent of A-levels) that the school itself did not provide. Psychology was one of the options on offer, so I decided to sign up.
I enjoyed Higher psychology very much, and decided, like my mum, to study for a degree in psychology. Social psychology was my particular area of interest, so I then did a PhD focusing on the social psychology of receiving help. My PhD studentship involved me doing some teaching and marking, which helped me develop key skills I would need as a lecturer. After finishing my PhD, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher on a project exploring the relationships between group memberships and health. When the project came to an end, I started a job as a psychology lecturer at Nottingham Trent University (NTU), where I have worked for over 4 years.
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