Written by Sima Aykin – Sociology Student

In the last year of high school, I was researching undergraduate degrees that I can apply for. Since I was a little kid, I’ve always been interested in various subjects, that’s why I wasn’t sure which field I could go for. I always knew I wanted to study in the UK, and I never considered London as an option as I knew the city was too hectic for me. During my research, I found out that the University of Manchester has a wonderful campus, as it had all buildings next to one another and it was located from walking distance to the city
centre. That’s when I knew I wanted to apply there and I checked the courses that the University offered.

Since I was interested in different topics, I realised a degree in Sociology could be the best option for me. I’m now in my final year of university and I had the best experience here studying Sociology. My favourite part of the degree is that I have the flexibility to choose modules from different fields such as Politics, Social Statistics etc. I really enjoyed taking the ‘New Media’ module in my 2nd year as it gave me a very detailed perspective on the political economy of new media and how our identities are shaped through social media. Another module I found very rewarding was the ‘Survey Method in Social Research, which is a mandatory Social Statistics module for Sociology students. This course was really beneficial as I learnt how to create surveys and analyse the survey data on a data analysis software (SPSS).

During the summer of my second year, I had the opportunity to complete a summer internship through the Q-Step programme which encourages social science students to develop their quantitative skills. I worked as a data analysis intern at the UK Data Service and during my time there I worked on a social media project which taught me how to access Twitter data and analyse them through the use of a programming language (Python). As a Sociology student, I never thought I would learn a programming language and do data analysis. This experience gave me a whole new perspective and now I know what I want to pursue after I graduate from Manchester. I feel so lucky to be a part of the Q-Step graduates as it is a very rewarding opportunity for social science students.

Since I first stepped into the campus in September 2019 as an international student, I always felt so welcomed by the staff, all of my lecturers and teaching assistants. I never once felt homesick because of the support I received from my course leaders and my academic advisor. I believe it is very nice to have access to so many supportive people at university who guide you from day one. I am very grateful that I chose to study Sociology at the University of Manchester as I learnt so many valuable lessons and grew as a person which is very rewarding to see.

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