Fatima Lobocka is a second-year student studying Psychology, who was born in Poland and is half Iraqi.
My course and what module I enjoyed the most
I am studying BSc Psychology. Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour.
My course is accredited by the British Psychology Society (BPS). Accredited means approved by a professional body. Studying a Psychology degree that is accredited by BPS is necessary if I want to pursue a career in psychology. If I completed a Psychology course with no accreditation, I would have had to complete a conversion year after university. Therefore, City University was one of my top choices for studying Psychology.
There are 9 different career areas of Psychology
- Health
- Clinical
- Educational
- Occupational
- Counselling
- Neuropsychology
- Sports & Exercise
- Forensic & Academia
- Research & Teaching
See the BPS for these careers.
The module I enjoyed the most was Personality Psychology. This module tries to understand how our personalities develop and what influence it has on the way we think and behave. I enjoyed this module as it aimed to answer questions such as “How can understanding your personality help you gain insight into your emotional well-being?”.
We also learnt about the “Big Five” trait theory which is one of the most popular trait theories of personality. This “Big Five” theory suggests that personality is made up of five personality dimensions: Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Neuroticism and Openness. Each trait will have a spectrum from low to high on which every individual will fall. You can complete the Big Five test for yourself.
My student hall experience (& moving cities)
I had to move from Leeds to London to study at City. For my first year, I lived at Liberty Court (Farringdon) student accommodation. I came to London alone so before 15th September 2019 I didn’t know anyone in London.
“I was very anxious, but I knew many students would be in the same position as me and so I kept a positive attitude.”
To my shock, by the 16th September I met three amazing students who lived in the same accommodation as me. We got on so well from the first day and we even moved in together for the second year!
Of course, not everyone found their best friends from the first day, however everyone I came across eventually found a group of people with whom they could be themselves.
City University is very diverse and aims to have a cultural environment that is welcoming to all individuals. I continued to meet wonderful individuals on my walk to university (10 minutes’ walk), in the laundry room, in the reception etc. Everyone was welcoming and although sometimes I missed my hometown a lot, many students felt the same, so I knew I wasn’t alone – although sometimes it did feel a little lonely.
My top two highlights of university so far
My first highlight was the fully funded leadership programme that I took part in after completing my first year. The 4 day development programme took place in Vietnam in partnership with RMIT Ho Chi Min City University.
Our group aimed to answer the question “How can different generations work together to ensure cities maximise the benefits of Artificial Intelligence?”. In total 100 students took part in the programme – 25 from City and the rest from Vietnam, Cambodia, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Indonesia. We met with local employees such as “UNICEF” to gain ‘on the ground’ understanding of the problems in the area. We also had the opportunity to go sightseeing for 3 days! This experience was by far one the best experiences in my life!
In my second year I co-founded the UNICEF on Campus Society with three other students. Here’s our UNICEF Society Instagram. This is my second highlight and was inspired by the trip to Vietnam. Co-founding the society was a lot of fun and I was lucky to meet many new students from the University.
The Students’ Union were very supportive and gave us a lot of guidance on how to get started.
For our first fundraising event we partnered up with MOD Pizza and raised £333. We did this by selling tickets to a “Pizza and Drink” event at their Leicester Square branch (they sectioned off part of the restaurant exclusively for us).
Working with external organisations was exciting and having such a successful event gave the team and me, a feeling of achievement.
Fatima has been really proactive and taken part in lots of what university has to offer. Research your university choices or final university to see what they offer in terms of societies, study abroad placements, leadership opportunities and placements, work experience and volunteering and more.
You can learn more about Psychology related careers here on National Careers Service.
