Welcome to the School of Psychology.
"Be prepared to step outside your comfort zone, whether this means putting your hand up in class or engaging with a wide variety of people from fellow students to your personal tutor or the librarians, academics and admin support, everyone at university can support your journey and contribute to your university experience; you just need to ask!"
Dr Judith Gentle, Director of Undergraduate Programme for Psychology
Conceptualise your week as if you were in a work environment and plan to work Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm then you will have enough time to really engage with your studies and have plenty of guilt-free time for social activities.
Make sure you attend all your lectures and participate in the tutorials as much as possible. They are a great way to get to know your lecturers and learn more about the topics we teach.
Organise your work so that assignments are planned and do not end up being left until the last minute. I recommend that you keep track of all your deadlines from the start of semester 1, whether this is in a diary form, or marked on an online calendar, it is a great way to plan your time effectively.
Attend extra-curricular activities we put on in the department such as welcome and returners events and participating in research studies. Our academic seminars are also open to all students and they are a great way of learning about current research and really enrich your university experience.
NEVER plagiarise anyone else’s work. Make sure you know how to cite other people’s work and learn how to develop your own writing style using quality sources.
Take care of your technology – back up your computer regularly so that you do not waste valuable time re-writing work that has ‘mysteriously’ gone missing.
Take care of your mental and physical health, join societies, make new friends, picnic by the lake, eat nourishing food and, most importantly, enjoy this experience.
"Get involved in the research community (come to research talks, join the Surrey Reproducibility Society, take part in studies on SONA). Don’t worry too much about grades in Year 1, now is the time to learn new skills and try things out!"
Dr Aife Hopkins-Doyle, Lecturer in Social Psychology
There are many things to experience in university from social opportunities to academic support - however, these resources are only useful if you try them.
For example, when I was in my Foundation Year, I would liaise with my academic/personal tutor a lot, alongside that, I had signed up for the Peer Assisted Writing Scheme (PAWS) which reflected in my academic work. In Year 1, I made use of the services at the Centre for Wellbeing, which helped me establish coping mechanisms with the workload and tackle personal problems.
This would serve as a reminder that university is not just an institute for academic development, but overall personal development too.
University requires a new dynamic way of thinking, learning and completion of academic work, which cannot be achieved only in the classroom setting. Becoming an independent learner is mandatory. Through your early academic tutorials you will learn some "survival skills" that will help you get on top of your workload, which will carry you throughout university. Adopting a 9-3/9-5 approach may be helpful.
If you're coming to university straight from sixth form or college it may be daunting. Or as a mature student, an international student or student with seen or unseen disabilities. The point is, the cohort is diverse, with students from all different backgrounds. Being kind to each other and connecting would make the transition into this year much easier. This could be done by making group chats, joining societies or initiating conversations with peers, whatever way you prefer.
Also, remember to be kind to yourself. Treat yourself like someone that you really care about. You would want your loved ones to be happy and healthy, so be that person for yourself. If you need support, you can always get in contact with a support service such as Peer Support, the Centre for Wellbeing, Samaritans and SHOUT.
And don't beat yourself up over assignment feedback. Your criticism should be constructive, which you can discuss with your academic tutor to help you improve in your future assignments.
