Maria Oszoli - MSc Applied Psychology
The 29-year-old, originally from Hungary, decided to add to her qualifications in the summer of 2021 as the world continued to grapple with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Having initially wanted to travel the globe, Maria through herself into the postgraduate programme and managed to successfully balance it with her then full-time job in a café.
She was also involved in volunteering roles at RGU and even won two awards for Service of Excellence and Student Achievement for being Welcome Buddy of the Year 2022. Maria was also a student ambassador for the duration her postgraduate course.
Maria said: “I finished my undergraduate degree in 2021 and graduated in July 2021. As it was still possible to feel the effect of the Covid-19 pandemic, with an impact on the travel industry. I was worried about leaving my supervisory job due to financial reasons.
“I chose a postgraduate degree that I have always been interested in and that gave me the opportunity to enjoy the student life of RGU. These opportunities were volunteering at the Student Buddy Scheme, joining the Student Ambassadors of RGU, and participating in events.”
Maria is now a staff member at RGU and works in the Student Finance Department as an Administrator as someone is on maternity leave currently until June 2024. She would like to remain with the university and relocate to a different department on her colleague's return.
She said the MSc Applied Psychology course has not only given her a recognised qualification but also helped her own skills like communication and being flexible.
Maria said: “I have always been interested in Psychology, and genuinely I like to help and support other people. I have always been a good listener and I figured that I would like to enhance this skill further so I can help others as well by supporting them in the future. I was not sure how, or I felt a lack of knowledge in certain areas, meaning that the Applied Psychology course managed to fill the gap I felt.
“I liked the modules that RGU offered in Applied Psychology, such as Developmental Psychology where I was able to learn about the development of children. My other favourite module was Clinical Psychology which helped me understand how to support people with certain mental health disorders or disabilities. I was able to understand personalities in depth because of the Personality and Individual Differences module.
“I managed to learn a lot about myself during the programme and become more self-aware. I cope much better now with stress, and organising my time, while I got much better with my communication skills, dealing with problems and approaching people. I learned to accept difficulties and setbacks in life, regardless of whether it was academic, career or personal life; and just do my best while moving forward. Secondly, I managed to learn to become flexible and adapt to new situations or experiences, such as a new type of coursework. The university course helped me to learn a lot more about mental health in general.”