A decision day for the undecided (and very decided)
Elaina Varazinskis, Psychology with Counselling
From the moment I stepped onto the York St John campus on their open day I knew it was the perfect fit for me. The beautiful buildings and grounds just felt calming to walk around and as it’s a smaller campus I didn’t feel overwhelmed (a feeling I got looking around other universities). I loved how central the University was within the city and how close the accommodations are to the city centre. I loved the thought of being able to just stroll into town and explore between lectures.
I knew I wanted to study psychology so for me, it was just a matter of choosing where. One of the things that instantly stood out to me was that YSJ offers different pathways within the general psychology course. These are, Psychology with child development, counselling and forensic psychology. I have known for a while that I want a future career in the counselling field, so the opportunity to specify my degree fully to my interests was extremely exciting. Although, if you are unsure, the first two years of the course are pretty much the same, so if you changed your mind, you would most likely be able to swop your pathway. This put me at ease as it took away some pressure as I may have wanted to change my future career plan when I started studying.
After attending the psychology talk on the open day it was set in stone that I wanted to study psychology with counselling. However, just the course was not the only important decision for me. I wanted to make sure there was a society that I would enjoy. Thankfully, YSJ has the most beautiful dance studio in the stunning original building of the university. That was another tik on my list for YSJ. As of course there is always more to the university student life than just studying!
When mulling over my university options back home I came across an opportunity in the YSJ psychology course that helped confirm my choice of firming YSJ. This was the study abroad opportunity. Many other universities do have study abroad opportunities, however, what’s special about York St Johns is that the length of time abroad was only one semester instead of a full year. This meant that my work from studying abroad is incorporated into my degree, instead of it being an extra year of expenses with grades that do not count towards my overall degree score. For the psychology course, the destination is in Pennsylvania, USA. This was a perfect fit for me as I have always wanted to travel to America, and this felt like a once in a lifetime opportunity that I could not miss out on, all thanks to YSJ.
I can whole heartedly say I made the right decision choosing to study psychology with counselling at YSJ. I have loved every moment so far and cannot wait for many more in my final year.
