Questions

What do you hope to achieve during your postgraduate study at Birmingham?

Recently, my main mantra has been to “try new things”. It may seem cliché, but it’s led me to put myself out there more – such as creating YouTube videos, taking up running, and going on my first solo trip abroad – and I want to carry this on in my time at Birmingham. I’ve signed up to a few societies, and am hoping to have new experiences and meet great people in this way!
Alongside studying hard in my degree and achieving academically, it’s important to me to develop myself and my skills outside of the classroom as well. I’m expecting to get a lot out of being a student rep in terms of confidence, discipline, and organisation.

What are you looking forward to most on your course?

There are some modules I’m particularly looking forward to completing this year, specifically “poverty, wealth and inequality”, “philosophies of welfare”, and “crime and social harm”. These stand out because of my interest in social inequality and the process of going about equalising opportunity, and also my interest in the symptoms of inequality, one of which is differences in rates of crime and prosecution among disadvantaged social groups.
I am also looking forward to completing another dissertation this year, as there are things I’d like to improve on in comparison to my undergraduate dissertation, and I enjoy carrying out primary research and furthering my understanding of the experiences of others in society.

What have been your first impressions of Birmingham so far?

I absolutely love the Birmingham campus so far. It’s much older than what I was used to at Warwick, which has a lot of charm; it’s really nice to feel the history of the place as you walk the grounds and corridors. I also think it’s great that the university is so uniquely well-connected via the station – it has made it really easy for me as a commuter student from Coventry, and also allows students who live on campus to visit London and other cities with ease, which I think is great all-round.
Furthermore, I think the emphasis the university places on wellbeing and representation of students has been admirable to see. Every student representative I’ve met or heard from has been really passionate about their role, and this inspired me to sign up to be a student rep for my course (which I’d be happy to make content about!).

In terms of Birmingham as a city, I love the vibrant diversity which is on display from when I’m on the train in the morning until I head home. A plethora of languages, cultures and people have found a home in Birmingham, which I think we should be proud of as a region as it demonstrates that Birmingham has been deemed a safe and welcoming place to settle from all corners of the globe. I think it’s important to make sure these values prevail.

What was your motivation for postgraduate study?

Essentially, my motivation to study at postgraduate level was to gain further expertise in the field of social science I’d most like to work in and influence in the future. I’m particularly interested in issues of privilege and lack thereof, and how to counter the fact that, in our neoliberal society, the odds are drastically stacked against individuals from several groups from a young age – and that this is exacerbated when individuals come from several of these groups at once. I wanted to continue learning about this, and hopefully have this lead to a fulfilling and impactful career in social improvement; when I found the Social Policy course at the University of Birmingham, I knew it was absolutely perfect for me!

Tell us about yourself and your journey to postgraduate study.

I made the decision to study a Masters degree while completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Warwick, because I had a real passion for the subjects I was studying (sociology and politics). I didn’t want to stop learning at the end of the bachelor’s, so taking a combination of these subjects further through the Social Policy MA course seemed like a no-brainer in this sense.
To be honest, the idea of studying a postgraduate degree was still daunting, and was something I hadn’t envisioned myself ever doing when I was in school. However, I think it’s important and beneficial to push oneself when opportunities come up, even if they’re a little scary, and so that’s what I did!