Thoughts of a Psychology Student

I suppose it was only a matter of time before I got round to writing a blog post about the scrapping of maintenance grants. Over the last couple of weeks, what started off as surprise and disappointment in the government's decision to abolish the grants has slowly brewed into a rather intense outrage, so naturally this blog post seemed like an apt outlet for such a rant. So to fill those of you in who aren't too sure what I'm on about, I'll start from the beginning. Maintenance grants are sums of money, up to £3,387 that are available to students from low-income families to help cover living costs at university which don't need to be repaid. They currently provide support for over half a million students  across the country, allowing them access to higher education that they might not otherwise have been able to afford. This month, despite not mentioning anything about it in their general election manifesto last year, the Conservative government voted to s...

We're already 5 days into January and I can't help but feel super underwhelmed and demotivated at the fact that 2016 is upon us and yet I can't seem to really put my finger on anything hopeful or new years resolution-y to inspire me for the year ahead. I think in part, this may be due to the fact that I have a very real alternate preferred reality in my head in which I am living the life I have always dreamed of, and the fact that this is currently not happening in real life is pretty distressing. I'm afraid to say this alternate reality is horridly fuelled by candid tumblr pictures of moleskin journals and disposable cameras, but I feel inclined to share it with you nonetheless. It goes something like this: I am in my twenties (so far so good), and I live in Amsterdam (oh). I reside in a narrow apartment down one of the many 'straats' on the canal. The decor is minimalist, whites greys and blacks ease into each other in a sort of linear pattern that is pl...

It's been 72 hours since the attacks in Paris, and I have to say, I can't remember the last time I experienced an event so emotionally and mentally draining without being a physical part of it. Cycling in the gym last night, I was positioned right in front of the BBC news channel TV, which showed scenes of the Paris terror on a loop for a solid 40 minutes. I do not want to watch the footage that captured the moment the explosion went off outside the stadium anymore. I do not want to watch the video of someone clinging to the edge of a second floor window whilst innocent citizens clamber over bodies that were shot down outside the arts theatre. I do not wan t to read about the names of the terrorists that attacked Paris. I want to remember the #PorteOuverte hashtag offering safety to all those seeking refuge in the aftermath. I want to consider the taxi drivers who turned off all their meters to give lifts to citizens who were out in the open. I want to lis...

Newspapers. News Broadcasts. Radio. They all talk of it. This disease. This danger, advancing. We see them coming. Across the sea. How dare they? They're invading our space, seeking our benefits. Two worlds are colliding; the clean and the unclean. They're here to muddy our pure waters. They want in on our society, a culture of safety and prosperity. How dare they? We have to protect our own interests. We are under threat. Asylum seekers? As if. They should be admitted to one. Here they come, marching across Europe Making the comfortable uncomfortable. How dare they? There they linger, in pitiful camps. Tarpaulin shelters and gravel playgrounds. They are rife with scabies and gangrene. Boatloads of them on the horizon, What idiot believes that the water is safer than the land? They're wasting coastguards' time. How dare they? There are bodies now. Hundreds of them. Decomposing in lorries. Bei...

If I am correct, you should be revising. But yet you are procrastinating, by not only scrolling through social media feeds, but by clicking on my blogpost link. And i'm glad you did. Because I'm about to recommend you watch a particular documentary... think of it as another revision break. The documentary in question is called " The Stranger on the Bridge " (hence the blog post title...) and if i'm honest, I only watched it because I'd seen Steph + Dom and Leon + June react to it on Gogglebox, which may well be the best show on TV to date (besides the actual documentary of course)... The programme is a depiction of a true story. It documents Jonny Benjamin's quest to find the man who talked him out of jumping off waterloo bridge in 2008 in a suicide attempt. And inevitably, this emotionally charged, moving documentary made me cry enough to want to write a blog post on it. Without giving away too much, the beginning of the documentary shows Jonny ...

Disclaimer: I am not a political expert. I am a student. And the following post is my opinion. After trying and failing to stay up last night to watch the polls come in on BBC news, I woke up this morning and, like so many others, was pretty stunned by the results of yesterday's election. Contrary to predictions, and claims that this was going to be the closest election in history, one hour ago, the Conservatives were confirmed to have achieved a majority in parliament. Not only has David Cameron won a second term as Prime Minister, but Nigel Farage, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband have also resigned, indicating the scale of defeat that is being felt in their respective parties... (not that I'm remotely bothered that UKIP failed to influence most of the UK...) So I suppose now the focus turns to Cameron, and his party, and what we can all expect in the next 5 years. I am lucky enough to have been brought up in an environment where I have never experienced poverty, or been ...

Sorry this blog post is so late! (by 'so' late I mean 2 days but still). Hope it doesn't disappoint you as much as the solar eclipse disappointed the entire population of Bath.... (making a pin hole camera is easier said than done...) Book five minutes into your daily schedule now and commit to give that time to someone who needs it. Perhaps your family, a friend, or even more time in prayer. Done :) Read your local newspaper, watch TV or scroll through your Facebook newsfeed. Pray for each item as it appears. I haven't done this yet, but believe it's so important. We often underestimate the power of prayer, especially in affecting issues that we're not directly related to. Pray with shameless audacity. Slip a bar of chocolate into someone’s bag with a note saying ‘#40acts’. Or leave a bar or two in your local library, on a park bench or on the train. This was my most successful act this week. I bought a chocolate bar, put a cute po...