What I think really defines Kingston, or the politics programme at Kingston is the really
high levels of student support that we provide. Right from when I first started here at Kingston
I realised that the student experience was what defined what we do and defines everything
that we do on a day to day basis. And the student support is really the central focus
right from the first day the student starts at Kingston right through to the final year,
the advanced research project and right through to graduation.
I chose to study politics here at Kingston because on my open day I also met Radu,
who is currently head of department here in politics and he had a lot of things
to say that I agreed with but he also challenged me in a way that I'd never experienced previously
which made me realise that here is a chance for me to develop and actually engage more with politics.
I chose to study human rights because I believe
that in our compulsory education up until undergraduate level we tend to study the same
things over and over again and we only learn things from a particular perspective and I
wanted to come into a really diverse environment where we learn things from all different countries'
points of view and just generally move forward a bit from where it gets very repetitive in the compulsory curriculum.
I chose to come to Kingston because it's one
of the few places where you can do human rights as a half field subject. So my choice of places
was quite slim and when I came to the open days I was really impressed with Kingston's
personal tutor scheme which they spoke quite a lot about.
Assessments throughout the degree are completely different and you actually get quite a lot
of choice, so now I'm in my final year I have a mixture of exams and essays and I've actually
got to pick which I do for my different modules.
The best thing about my course is that it's very broad so you get introduced to a lot of different themes and issues.
So you might discover things that you didn’t previously think you'd be interested in.
The academics are I would say brilliant because even while I do my research I usually just
came across articles that were written by professors at Kingston and it was not necessarily
my professor, but it's just a nice feeling to know that the faculty you’re studying
is taught by people who actually work in the field and they're scholars and
they publish and they're into the subject.
As well as lectures and seminars the course also offers out of class events and the Politics Society is quite active in organising events.
So for instance this year and also last year they organised a conference at the end of
the year where the third years present their dissertations and there's a panel at the end
of it where you can ask questions and they also get feedback from lecturers and fellow students.
Also this year they've organised several events where they've invited the local
candidates for Kingston for the general election to come in and talk about their party or their
ideas and that's been really interesting as well.
Alongside my course here at Kingston I've been really involved in extracurricular activities
particularly with our students' union here at Kingston which is fantastic. I actually
chose to take a year out of my course to run for a position called Vice President of Student
Life in the student's union which is a full time representative role which I thoroughly
enjoyed and it's given me a lot of extra experience for the time that I graduate.
My favourite thing about Kingston as a place to live is living by the river. It's such
a beautiful peaceful spot. There's lots of really nice bars and cafes and places to eat down there.
So I'd say the river's my favourite part.
As a place to live I think Kingston's fantastic. It's so close to London which means you have
everything on your doorstep: all of the museums, everything that will really actually complement
your course such as the British Library. It's really endless the things that you can do in London, it's brilliant.
My top tip for studying at Kingston is to
try and make the most of the things that the University offers. So join societies, join sports clubs,
make use of all the support offers that the University has, because once you graduate you
won’t have these things available to you.
My top tip for life at Kingston is to really keep in mind the whole time that you're here what it is that you're going to want to be
doing next. Because within these three or four years, whatever your course might be, you
can pick up so much extra experience that will really having you lined up to stand out
of the crowd for a new employer by the time you graduate.