Hi, I’m Lucija, a second-year psychology student at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Before starting my studies here, I completed my A-levels in Biology, English Literature, and Psychology. 

A fascination for the brain

I chose this course of study because the brain is the most magnificent thing I can think of! It amazes me how complex phenomena, such as memory, consciousness, and emotions (to name a few), can arise from physical matter.

Also, despite the fact that psychology is a science (which I love dearly), there are links to more abstract, philosophical exploration, which I really enjoy as well. 

Psychology at the UvA  

Academic excellence is something that is very important to me. Therefore, I chose to study at the UvA, which consistently ranks highly among global universities.

Having grown up in the expatriate culture of the UAE, it was also crucial for me to choose a university with a diverse faculty and student body, and I think the UvA definitely has that. 

From exploration to specialisation  

I really liked the structure of the first year, where you get a taste of many different areas of psychology - for example, cognitive neuroscience, social psychology, and many more.

I think that this makes the choice of your specialisation in the second year much more well-informed, given that you have had a chance to explore a bit of all of the offered sub-disciplines. 

A word of encouragement 

Students should take into account that, although it is a psychology degree, there is a considerable amount of statistics courses that you must take. For someone like me, who did not have a large interest in mathematics prior to university, this was a little bit discouraging at first, but I have gotten used to it and even grown to like it. 

If you want to pursue this degree, you have to be ready to really commit to it and stay on top of things because it can be very fast-paced at times. At the same time, maintain a healthy uni-life balance because being a student is also supposed to be fun!