Reflections on the autumn semester
The beautiful Airthrey Loch on campus, with the Wallace Monument in the background
It’s hard to believe that the first semester of the MSc programme is over! It’s been a busy eleven weeks (as I expected!), and things are going well so far. There’s a chance the university staff will read this at some point so I’m not just saying this for the sake of it, but I am actually really enjoying the programme so far - admittedly I have no grades yet, but so far so good!
Some highlights for me this semester:
Meeting students from all across the world
Working with my peers on group assignments
Attending my first Scottish sport psychology division meeting
Winning an Apple Watch in a university competition (yes, really!)
Facilitating weekly recreational sport sessions for students who just want to play sport for the fun of it
Starting tennis lessons in the incredible Scottish National Tennis Centre
There are students from many countries on my programme and, although there are less than 40 of us, it makes for some really engaging conversations. We have all come from a variety of backgrounds and have vastly different experiences so it’s great to have lots of different perspectives and voices in seminars. Everyone on the programme is there for different reasons, but we are all hardworking which has been hugely helpful when doing group assignments! The two groups I have worked with this semester have been great and, although group work can sometimes be really challenging, these assignments have been amongst my favourites this semester.
Back in October, I attended my first Scottish Sport and Exercise Psychology Network meeting in Glasgow and it was a brilliant afternoon. I had the chance to meet fellow students, as well as newly-qualified and experienced psychologists working in the industry. It felt important to get involved with the Network while undertaking the MSc programme, to help keep me abreast of what is going on in the applied and academic world as it happens.
The university ran a #ThisIsStirling competition back at the start of the semester, and to enter all you had to do was share your photographs from the beginning of your academic year! The campus is incredibly Instagrammable, so I took full advantage and ended up winning the top prize of an Apple Watch! Considering I never even win anything in a tombola, this was quite the achievement for me.
Halloween UV volleyball!
The start of the semester also marked the start of a new job for me: working as a Student Sport Activity Leader in the university sports centre. Over the past eleven weeks, I have facilitated football, basketball, volleyball and UV volleyball sessions for students who are keen to participate in recreational sessions. The clear highlight of this role was the Halloween UV volleyball session which was really well attended and a lot of fun!
Towards the end of the semester, the sport staff have started a beginners tennis session which I was really excited about when I saw it on the sport app. Some funding was recently released for a recreational tennis session, so we even had fancy new racquets and balls! Really looking forward to continuing the sessions in the new year, and hopefully improving as a player (I definitely need to!).
It is around six weeks before the Spring semester starts, so there is plenty opportunity to relax and take stock of everything. I can start to get things organised for my dissertation project (watch this space!), as well as preparing for going on placement and preparing work for on-campus modules also. Roll on semester two!
