Thoughts of a Psychology Student

I cannot begin to fathom what happened in the early hours of the 24th of June. I know I should respect democracy, and the fact that over half of the 72% turn out did indeed vote to leave, and I should probably be taking the optimistic view - lets all just unite and come together to make good out of a rubbish situation. And I'm sure I'll come round to that view eventually. But right now, certainly for the first half of this blog post (which I angrily wrote at work the day of the result), I actually can't. You all know I've been pretty damn vocal during this campaign. You all know I wanted the UK to remain in the European Union. But I don't think even I realised quite  how bad it would be if we actually left. And now it's happened. The pound has already devalued beyond belief and big businesses are upping sticks and going across the seas to ensure the economic security of their companies. Wouldn't it be ironic that the solution to people's immigr...

Before Thursday, I had never heard of Jo Cox. I was unaware of her footprint as an MP, or her presence in an array of campaigns. But I feel like it's important to acknowledge her work, and ensure that the impact of her death is truly felt, because having done a bit of research into her life and work, I honestly believe there is no better example to follow. I feel like there's a lot of pressure on this blog post. I don't want to fall into damaging political rhetoric, debating right-wing radicalisation of the murderer or exploiting Jo's death to persuade people to remain in the EU. Yes it's difficult to disentangle this event from the UK's current political landscape, with the country sitting on a political precipice, but I believe it is more important to - as MP Rachel Reeves put it - continue to fight for the causes Jo Cox so passionately believed in. Jo Cox was one of 191 female MPs in the UK, compared to 458 male MPs. The average age of MPs in Britain is ...

You'll all have seen this story in the news. I won't bore you with the details again, because quite frankly, the less we dwell on this murderer the better. But for those who are unsure, here it is in brief. At 2am local time in Orlando on Sunday night, a man named Omar Mateen opened fire in a gay club called Pulse, with an AR-15-type assault rifle, killing 49 people and injuring a further 53 people. This attack, the most fatal mass shooting in US history to date, has sent shockwaves through both LGBTQ+ and straight communities around the world. And as with so many atrocities that have occurred over the past few years; Sandy Hook, the Paris attacks, the Brussels bombings, there have been waves of reactions from people across social media. In a world so heavily characterised by media, politics and a drive for social justice, it is often difficult to gauge just how  we should respond to attacks such as the shooting in Orlando. So lets look at some of these waves that ...

So back in January I wrote a blog post entitled 'Realistic Resolutions'  outlining some new years resolutions that I hoped to keep in 2016, and whilst I realise we're only halfway through 2016, I thought I'd do a 6 month update combined with a sort of 'second year of university reflection' blog post. Therefore, if you're not particularly in the mood to read what might well be a fairly narcissistic and egocentric blog post, then maybe return to your Netflix tab and don't bother with this one. The intensity of second year hit me like a train very early on. Being freshers' crew in freshers' week was so much fun but I don't think I'd properly recovered from it before the onslaught of 2nd year work load began. So first semester was a pretty constant flow of lab reports, and stats reports, and essays and stress. Despite a brief reprieve during a birthday trip to Amsterdam, the work stress continued over christmas with yet more coursewor...

Terminology The news headlines have been dominated by coverage of the EU referendum, but there appears to be inconsistency over which terms people are using in order to state where they stand on the debate. So for the record: Brexit (Britain Exit), Leave, Out, No = LEAVE THE EU Bremain (Britain Remain), Stay, In, Yes = STAY IN THE EU What is the EU - The EU is a collection of 28 countries, which, through various treaties and committees, was forged out of the 2nd world war in order to reduce the threat of war and to reinforce democracy. Since then it has enabled the freedom of movement between member states, made trading easier and overseen the development of common foreign security policy. We have been a member of the EU since 1973. Why are we having a referendum - In last year's general election, as part of the conservative manifesto, David Cameron promised an in/out referendum by the end of 2017. The plan was to kill 2 birds with one stone: Nigel Far...

This blog post has been in the pipeline for a while, but I've been waiting for the right time to post it.  On Monday, I was in Bath city centre, and was walking down one of the quant side streets lined with boutiques and independent cafes, when I walked past a homeless woman sat in the shelter of an archway. I carried on walking past her, and heard her coughing quite loudly, and I fully stopped walking and hesitated, wondering whether or not to go ask if she needed anything. Worried about approaching her, I went on my way to buy my mum a (belated) mothers day card and present. I had a budget of maybe £15, but after I'd bought her a card, something in my mind was still niggling away at me about the homeless woman. So I walked back to where she was sat and asked if she wanted anything to eat, to which she replied she would like a burger king (great choice I know). So I bought her a meal from there, and then when I gave it to her I asked if she had anywhere to stay that e...

With the US election primaries well under way in preparation for November the 8th 2016, much of its media coverage has crossed the Atlantic and reached our shores. Yet names like Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton seem dwarfed when it comes to Donald Trump. With a name (and face...) that has so much potential for comedy value, it is no wonder many in this country view him as a clown. He is a caricature of himself. Much of what he says is so preposterous it becomes hilarious. His social media activity is a source of much hilarity, from dipping his toe in trivial celebrity feuds: "I watched Russell Brand @rustyrockets on the @jimmyfallon show the other night-what the hell do people see in Russell — a major loser!" "Robert Pattinson should not take back Kristen Stewart. She cheated on him like a dog & will do it again--just watch. He can do much better!" to expressing his doubt over whether Obama was really born in the United States: ...