Criminal Justice and Criminology - BA (Hons)
I’ve found myself doing a lot better because of the skills I picked up during my placement year.
It was the course; Kent’s course is very broad and as I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do in the future, that made the most sense for me. I didn’t want to get tied down to a specific area.
Most of my modules have been interesting. I’ve studied lots of areas: women in the criminal justice system, victims and crime, youth crime and youth culture. They’ve all been interesting, but those focused on youth crime and victims of crime have been my favourites. I also took a module on volunteering, which tied in with my placement, and the lecturer was great, very enthusiastic, which made it really interesting to study.
I was a student mentor and a student champion in second year, so welcomed the new students to university. I’m also a student ambassador; I work mostly online, taking part in presentations to different schools. If the school students have questions, as ambassadors we step in and answer.
I’ve lived in Pier Quays for years. I really like the environment and meeting new people. I think if I lived in a house with all my friends, I would not be as motivated to do my work as I am here.
I play netball for Kent. I’m a very competitive person, I play for the first team and really enjoy it. As well as the sports side of the club, there’s also a really good social side to it as well. And sometimes, we pair up with other societies for socials so you get to meet people from literally everywhere.
I don’t have anything specific at the moment, but I do know that I want to work with young people in some capacity. What advice would you give to somebody thinking of doing your course? I’d definitely recommend my course because it’s broad, so you can move into anything afterwards. It also helps you to discover which areas you’re most interested in.
It was relatively easy. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do a placement year or not, so I spoke to the Careers Service. They were very helpful and suggested I consider working for City Year UK. City Year UK is a voluntary organisation that sends mentors into schools around London, Greater Manchester, and the Midlands. I decided to apply and after an interview I got a placement. I worked in two schools, one in south London near Croydon and one in central London.
The role isn’t a teaching role, you’re there more as a mentor and to offer one-to-one support. I worked closely with Year 9 (age 13-12) classes and the kids got to know me well. I enjoyed being with the children, they’re just a breath of fresh air, there’s so much energy and some of the things that they come out with are just crazy! No day is the same when you’re working in a school. Also, I actually miss being in school, so it was nice to be back in that environment. Although obviously in my role I was seeing everything from a different perspective.
I learnt quite a few things about myself and became much more self-aware. I also learnt that teaching is probably not for me. I enjoyed the school environment, but not the actual teaching. I do though want to work with kids in some capacity, maybe in the community or in a pastoral role in a school. I was actually offered a pastoral role at the end of the placement, but I wanted to come back to uni to complete my degree.
Yes 100%. I can’t advocate for it enough. For me it gave me a new perspective, it was a year outside of education to reboot. Since I returned to uni, I’ve found myself doing a lot better because of the skills I picked up during my placement year. For example, my communication skills have improved, which has given me the confidence to speak up in seminars and engage more in lectures. I really feel I’m on top of my work. And my marks have improved too, which is good.
Pier Quays.
Everybody knows everybody here, it feels kind of like a boarding school, I like it.
I used to take long walks down the strand because the view is really nice. It's very peaceful.
Community. Diverse. Nandos
