I really appreciate our inspiring and patient lecturers. It was their support that helped me develop great resilience, independence and knowledge, especially during this global pandemic. QUB also gave me many opportunities to gain social experience. I worked at the interact lab, volunteered with Handy Helper and enjoyed my time with the badminton club. I also had great fun exploring Northern Ireland with my friends here. We went camping, sailing, skating, swimming and many more. Only with these beautiful people can these regular activities have greater meanings. Those nights we spend in McClay Library, in Limelight, in Titanic museum, in Lady Dixon Park, I will never forget.

After QUB, I will keep pursuing my passion for psychology and language development. Maybe, I will come back to Belfast as a good language therapist. Love you all!

There was also a tutorial class every week and we had to work on a big research project together. Several lectures about careers in psychology gave us great insights into our possible futures. For my thesis, I was very lucky because I got to research my area of interest and design the study independently, while my supervisor, Dr Ioana Latu, gave me very useful advice and a lot of support.

The lecturers and professors are really nice to students and they care about making international students feel comfortable. Sometimes they would arrange some face-to-face talks to make sure we international students were doing ok, where they would ask us about the problems we were facing and try to help us solve them. It really helped me to get used to life in Belfast.

My study experience at Queen’s made me more confident and open-minded, and I can think about things in more critical ways. Queen’s is a very diverse university, I made friends with students from so many different cultural backgrounds, even now we still keep in touch.

I gained important knowledge, learned life lessons and made new friends. The lecturers in my course were very helpful and friendly as well. My 4 years in Belfast were very fun and memorable, Belfast is definitely one of the best cities in the UK and has an environment perfect for studying! I miss Belfast already and I am waiting for a chance to go back again after the pandemic ends.

In addition, my father was too a QUB graduate. So it was nice to see how and what kind of environment my father went through when he was young. Queen's is undoubtedly a university with a strong history and heritage. Just from the looks of the main campus, you can read the years that Queen's has spent on nurturing future generations. Before the pandemic, I would not doubt that I will continue my career in the UK, but after all of this, I finally understand the uncertainty of life. Therefore, I wish to be close to my family, and Belfast will always be a second home to me.

This was only one of the many opportunities the university has given me to develop myself personally, intellectually and professionally. Not only have I been taught by people conducting ground-breaking research, but I have also had the opportunity to travel internationally for recruitment fairs with my school, for example to Oslo, Norway. The social life in Belfast is also amazing, with great live music, cinemas, cafes, pubs and travel opportunities to help entertain you every weekend for all the time you spend in this buzzing and vibrant city. It also is a major plus point that Belfast has the lowest cost of living in the UK, making it easy to live comfortably as a student here. 

However, the transition from home to Belfast and from high school to university was fully supported by the school, the university and the local community. I really enjoyed the university life in Belfast which enabled me to develop essential life skills, meet new people, and learn about human behaviour.

Though the course was challenging, especially the transition from in-person to online learning, the tutors and staff were very supportive in helping and answering our queries all the time. Even in the middle of the pandemic, I was very grateful to have the opportunity to undertake a virtual placement with MindWise, a mental health charity in Belfast. I was also encouraged to participate in volunteering events where I got to work with children and young adults. These experiences are so beneficial in discovering my interest in working with people and solving real-life problems. Hence, I am happy to graduate as a Psychology student from Queen’s with these achievements.

However, I knew very little about Belfast as a city (apart from the historical aspects). Belfast was quite different from what I expected prior to coming here, and I quickly learned to love the city. I like that it's a small city that's easy to get around, and nature is always close by. There are many cafes and restaurants and I think the amount has increased since I arrived here, which is great!

The cultural scene is also something I enjoy, with many music and arts events going on. Because I like to travel and go road tripping, the location is also perfect, as it gives easy access to various stunning places such as the Wild Atlantic Coastal route (Giant's Causeway), Donegal (great if you like surfing!) and Dublin.

I also have to mention that the university buildings and facilities here are stunning, and really give a Harry Potter-feeling (they even have a Narnia room in the library!) 

I came to Belfast without having visited the city before, and was not let down by anything I experienced here. From the welcoming week, to all the weeks afterwards, I always felt like Queen's gave me the opportunity to make the most out of my time in Belfast.

Belfast has a vibrant student community, with great restaurants, bars, parks, and more, close to the main campus. Personally, I found comfort away from home in No Alibis, the independent bookshop at Botanic Avenue, and in St. George's Market. As time went by, I became a regular in these places and would often have a chat with the owners. Belfast is a great place for making these kinds of personal connections; not too big, not too small.

Further, Queen's offers its Psychology students the opportunity to garner research experience from the get-go. Through the RESUS scheme, I was working as an assistant on projects from my first semester, something I have found immensely valuable, not only for the experience, but for the connections and insight it has provided.

Even though the School of Psychology is not part of the main university building, it has very good installations and equipment, and teachers and members of the staff are very available to help you.

I chose Queen's university as an Erasmus destination because is one of the top universities in Europe and also I was really interested in the period known as “The Troubles”, which I believe it is a very interesting fact to study as a Psychology student.

In my free time I like to visit different parts of Belfast looking for Murals about the conflict, I also like to go on weekends to Saint George´s Market. Also, I like to walk around city centre and river Lagan. Furthermore, there is one excursion that you cannot miss in northern Ireland and that is the Giant's Causeway

I would recommend to all new students to spend their first year in Elms Village, because as an Erasmus student I didn’t know anybody here before coming, however living in Queens Accommodation has given me the opportunity to have friends from a lot of different nationalities, including locals.

Most of the modules I am coursing here are part of Level 3 and they are challenging and interesting subjects which have given me the opportunity to be much more prepared to work in the future as a professional psychologist .  I do recommend to all new Erasmus students that are thinking about coming to Queens to don't think it twice because this year is being one of the best years of my life.

Rarely can a student earn a degree in that amount of time back home unless they are part of an accelerated degree program. For more personal reasons I decided to study at Queen’s because of my Irish background. My mother’s side of the family comes from Belfast and I wanted to get in touch with that part of my heritage. Lastly, Northern Ireland is such an ideal place to be if you’re interested in travel, which I very much am!

Queen’s University and the School of Psychology surpassed all my expectations. I was very nervous moving to a different country, being on my own and beginning the next step in my education. All my fears and insecurities were quickly put to rest with the start of orientation week.

The School had set up a week where all first years got to know the staff, their peers and the campus. It was very informative and quite fun. Before I knew it I was swept into the hustle and bustle of my first year at Queen’s. The lectures, essays, lab reports and various assignments have kept me very busy. However, despite the late nights studying and cramming I have thoroughly enjoyed my first year in the School of Psychology. It has been a long time since I have studied something that equally interests me and challenges me. Psychology offers both of these things.