This semester I took part in the Innovative Schools Scholars Program, which offers high achieving Year 10-12 students first-hand experience of learning at Curtin University while still in school, allowing students to earn University credit.  A number of units were offered from all Faculties at Curtin (Business and Law, Health Science, Humanities and Science and Engineering). However I decided to pick Psychology, as it was a new subject I hadn’t learnt about before. I was a selected student that was granted a full fee Scholarship/Sponsorship for access to the unit. Also, credit for successful completion of the unit will be counted as part of many undergraduate degree programs. This was a wonderful opportunity for me to independently pursue an area of interest at the tertiary level and receive an introduction to university life. I found it was very different to school as the tutors were more relaxed towards homework and there were only 2 assignments as well as an exam.

For the first assignment, I struggled with the referencing as it was very different to how I have been introduced to it at school. However, this means in the future I will be able to put my new skills to good use. Then the next assignment was a group project, which was daunting at first, as I didn’t know any of the people very well. Nevertheless, I used my collaboration, communication, leadership, and teamwork skills to set us on track from the start. Resulting in great success with an 80% grade. My exam on the other hand was very different, as it required me to apply my knowledge to real life situations, resulting in me having a greater perspective on people’s actions in society today.