Leah Morrison BSc Criminology and Psychology2017 Graduate, with Second Class Honours (Upper Division)

Being a Russell Group university, Southampton has a prestigious reputation with employees and so attaining a degree from Southampton has helped me in the long run of gaining employment.

Why did you choose to come and study at Southampton?
I chose to study at Southampton because of its internationally-recognised reputation, as shown on various university league tables. Southampton is also close to my hometown, so it is convenient to get to and from university if I needed to. As I knew I wanted to stay relatively close to home, but also attend a highly prestigious Russell Group university, Southampton was perfect for me.

What have you enjoyed most about your course?
I enjoyed everything about my course! The lectures and seminars went above and beyond my expectations of what I would be learning at university. The seminars were great to interact with fellow students and build on each other’s ideas. They also increased my confidence in speaking to a group of people and expressing my ideas. The lecturers were always really friendly and dedicated to helping us understand and learn everything we needed in an enjoyable way. I also enjoyed exploring and reading into different topics in order to answer essay questions and revise for exams.

Did you have the opportunity to study modules outside of your core subject area?
All of my modules related to my chosen course; however they allowed us to explore a very wide variety of issues and subjects surrounding Criminology and Psychology. These include prisons, exploring different types of offenders, the police, as well as a wide variety of topics in Psychology such as sleep disorders, mental illnesses, developmental psychopathologies and so much more.

What have been your Southampton ‘highlights’?
The highlights of my time at Southampton have been meeting a wide variety of new people and gaining new friends for life. Another highlight was going on a field trip to HMP/YOI Winchester to tour the prison and meet some of the security team there. This experience led me to start volunteering at the prison within the Visitors Centre and Play Area with the children’s charity Spurgeons.

How has your time at Southampton helped you to grow as a person?
My time at Southampton has helped me grow and gain so much confidence. The independence of university has helped me be my own person and learn new skills that will help me in the future. My course has taught me above and beyond what I had expected to learn. I have also gained loads of transferable skills that will help me in the future, not only academically, but also socially, such as confidence, punctuality and independence. It goes without saying that I would not be as autonomous and content as I am if I hadn’t gone to university.

What opportunities has studying at Southampton provided you with?
Studying at Southampton has led me to want to extend my knowledge even more and apply to study a Masters degree at Southampton in Criminology.
However, Southampton is also passionate in helping students obtain internships and graduate jobs. Students are always receiving emails about the wide variety of opportunities available to them during semesters or over semester breaks. Being a Russell Group university, Southampton has a prestigious reputation with employees and so attaining a degree from Southampton has helped me in the long run of gaining employment.