ALEXANDRA JENNER

I was working in the pharmaceutical industry when I decided to go for it and apply for a full-time Masters course. I chose a course that interested me, and was relevant to my job. The University is local to where I live therefore convenient to combine with family life.

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Studying a Masters has given me the opportunity to improve my study skills, develop research strategy and tap into the expertise of the lecturers. Learning new ways of doing things has really increased my confidence too. The size of the cohort allows us to have a personal experience, especially with the laboratory practicals and having experienced students from the course helping as laboratory assistants was really valuable. I’ve also enjoyed the peer support from our WhatsApp groups. There is a lot of support for students at the University. Personally, I really benefitted from the Critical Thinking and Postgraduate Writing Skills courses as well as additional maths support offered by the Learning Services team. Whilst on the course I was employed part-time to mentor Year 11 students for GCSE maths and after completing my course I’m hoping to continue academic research by applying for a PhD.

My advice to anyone joining the University is to get involved with additional activities with students from your course and support each other.