Grace Harris
Grace Harris is hoping to use her Psychology degree to pursue a career supporting the education and mental health of children and young people.
During her Psychology degree, Grace developed a passion for educational psychology, which has inspired current career ambitions. The former St Augustine’s High School pupil would like to work towards completing a doctorate in educational psychology and becoming a chartered educational psychologist.
She is currently working as a SEN (Special Educational Needs) teaching assistant at a school for children with special educational needs and disabilities and said she had learnt a lot. “It has showed me how psychology works in practice,” she said. “Every day I see the influence that attachment and different ecological systems can have upon a child’s personal and educational development, and this has furthered my desire to pursue a career where I can support these children.”
Grace focused her dissertation upon the impact of the first Covid-19 lockdown upon older adults. She said: “Researching the different impacts that isolation had upon the social and emotional wellbeing of this population inspired me to contact Age UK. I am now volunteering in the community to support lonely older adults and promote their wellbeing.”
During the pandemic, Grace trained to become a volunteer for a suicide and mental health helpline. She said: “I am very passionate about supporting mental health and wellbeing. Being a listening ear for people in crisis is very rewarding and has furthered my desire to pursue a career supporting mental health.”
Grace said studying during the pandemic had been very challenging. “Attempting to carry on as normal when everything wasn’t normal really knocked my concentration and confidence in my ability to perform well,” she said. “However, the support I received from each of my lecturers was invaluable and I genuinely believe that they enabled me to do my best. The best piece of advice I could give to other students would be to utilise the support available to you. What I found to be so helpful was drafting a plan of an assignment and talking this through
with my lecturer. They had valuable input and suggestions which accelerated my grades and made me feel confident about my achievements.”
Grace, who has graduated with a First Class Honours degree, said: “To achieve this despite all the challenges the pandemic imposed feels like a massive achievement and I am very proud of myself.”
Study Psychology at Worcester