As part of our continuing Born for This campaign, we took some time to meet with Alexandra, a Psychology student at Arden who has recently graduated. Alexandra is a people person who was born to help others, and she's hopeful her degree will allow her to change careers and make a difference. Hear more about her Arden journey and motivations below.
Hi there, what are you studying?
Hello, I'm Alexandra and I studied Psychology at Arden
And what do you do alongside studying?
I work full time for a property developer in London and I've been with them for two years. I've worked in the property development industry for about five years. And before that, I was cabin crew. So, I have always worked in sort of customer facing different sectors. I look after the customers from the point of reservation to post-completion, so my main role is to keep these customers happy.
What's led you to study with Arden?
I've always had an interest in psychology and studied it for an A level. But I think, when I left school, I wasn't ready to go straight back into a university. I wanted to travel and get a job and everything like that. However, I thought, once I’d settled in my career, I'm going to study psychology. Now I would quite like to have a career change at the end of it, and to move into a psychology job.
What sort of area of psychology do you want to work in?
You learn so much as you're studying. Originally, I thought I'd want to go into something more like life-coaching, however, now that I'm actually studying the course I’m finding that I'm more interested in research methods and things like that.
What have you most enjoyed learning about?
Everything I've learned about is pretty fascinating. People think of psychology just being that you're going to work out what people are thinking, but it's actually different. It’s very scientific, which is another thing that I've surprised myself with because I never used to like sciences. Learning about things like the brain chemicals, and how they work, was really interesting.
Have you found that since studying with us your outlook has changed at all?
I guess it helps me with my job because I am customer facing. Obviously, I deal with a lot of different type of people. And I guess it helps maybe understanding a bit more and maybe being more patient with people because you start to understand that they're not being rude or whatever, it's sometimes to do with their personality types.
How do you balance your studying with your life and job?
I work full time, Monday to Friday. So, I would go to work, have a full day of work (I usually get home about half six), have dinner, and do a couple of hours studying each evening. And then I tried to get up in the morning on weekends and do a few hours each day on the weekend too.
Do you have any tips or tricks you have for people that are trying to fit it all in?
You need self-discipline. Maybe one day you don't want to do it but you should crack on and do at least one hour, just to keep that discipline.
What do you think you were born to do?
Naturally growing up, I've always been a people person. So, I guess I was always born to deal with that. That's why I'd like to go into the psychology side of things – to delve deeper than just dealing with people face-to-face. I would like to help people, whether that's by doing research or face-to-face. I want to be able to make a difference somehow.
What sort of advice would you give to a child version of yourself?
I would tell myself to just always go for what you want. For a couple of years, I was probably umming and arring about whether to study. Part of me wishes I would have just done it when I was thinking about it. So, everything you want to do in life, just go for it.
What keeps you motivated?
I guess the end result. My main motivation is to get to the end, which I guess is graduation and then a career change. That's what mainly keeps me motivated. And a lot of coffee and a lot of treats. I let myself off sometimes.
Are there any ways in which you factor in the treats to help your studying?
No but I do give myself time schedules. So I'm like, right, if you can get in two hours of pure study where you don't leave the laptop, then you can go and binge a TV series.
To find out how an Arden University degree can help you realise what you were born to do click here
