Graduate stories: Hind Sara Bechari Martin News

BSc Psychology graduand Hind Sara Bechari Martin shares her graduate story

Date: 25 July 2018

Next week hundreds of London Met students will gather at the Barbican, London, for their graduation ceremonies. In our Graduate Stories series, we hear from some of our graduands about their often inspirational stories.
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By Hind Sara Bechari Martin

It’s true to say it took me a little while to understand what I really wanted to do with my life. When I left school I wasn’t as ambitious as I am right now. This confidence and motivation are also the result of the skills I learned at university, I moved to Rome from my home town of Trieste, Italy, and worked in a few random jobs but nothing really excited me.

I’d lived in Rome for a few years and one day I decided I needed a change, I was bored and wanted to shake things up. On 2 July 2011 I arrived in London with a suitcase, some good work experience, but without any real plan.

After a couple of years I started to think London wasn’t going to give me what I was looking for and I started making plans to move back home. That’s when I saw an advert for London Met.

I’d always been interested in human behaviour and by the idea of career where I can help people, so a psychology course seemed to offer me a chance to turn an interest into a career. At first I wasn’t sure if they’d accept me because I hadn’t really done as well as I could have at school, but I think they could see my potential and I was accepted on to a psychology foundation course.

I had to do the foundation course part-time, while also working two jobs to support myself. It was really tough, but I loved the subject so much I carried on. I finished the course in 2015 and immediately started full-time on London Met’s BSc Psychology course.

Time has flown by

My time at London Met has flown by. With studies and work outside of University I’ve hardly had any time off in three years. When I go up to collect my degree certificate I’ll really feel as though I’ve really earned it.

I’m really proud of my final project for which I’ve developed a cognitive rehabilitation treatment for sufferers of Alzheimer’s. We’ve had highly significant results in trials and I hope I can develop and test it further.

I’m excited about the future, I already have my first interview to work as an Assistant Psychologist, and I’m really looking forward to making a difference.

My advice

If I could speak to someone thinking of starting a course at London Met I would tell them to go for it, but be prepared to work hard! You only get out of your course what you put in.

I’d also want to tell them that you’ll have fantastic support to help you achieve your qualification. My lectures and tutors have frequently gone above and beyond to support my work and help me adjust to university life. 

I’ve been incredibly lucky to learn from and work with fantastic people like Dr Paul Hutchinson, Dr Chris Chandler and Professor Chris Lange-Kuettner, and Bernard Aidoo – I wouldn’t be where I am today without their support.

Hind will graduate with a First Class honours degree in Psychology and hopes to pursue a career as Clinical Neuropsychologist. 

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