This is a guest blog by current student Suzanne Ballamy studying BA (Hons) Sociology.

I am currently a Sociology student at BU doing a placement year, and will be returning to Bournemouth in September to do my final year. My experience of my course may be slightly different to others as with choosing to take a year in industry, its resulted in me studying differently to my course mate’s, as placement is voluntary not compulsory in Sociology at BU. In that respect it has been strange to watch most of my friends choose dissertation subject’s and go through the paces of third year whilst I’ve been career focused. But, I can assure you. it’s totally been worth it.

With the select few people, who chose to take a placement  year from my course year; the majority of them chose something related to the social system with voluntary work, whilst I chose to go into business. It shows the breadth of things you can go into when Sociology. I cannot recommend it enough!

Excluding my year in industry, Sociology has been a great subject for me as it is so versatile and interesting. BU offers three variations of the subject, with pure Sociology, Sociology with Criminology and Sociology with Anthropology, which allows a course that suits everyone, with mixed modules for those who took a combined degree! On my course I covered a vast range of subjects in my first and second year from Family Life to Globalisation and Marginalisation; this suited me well as it allowed an ongoing interest in the subject. This intrigue made keeping up with the reading lists and making sure I completed any projects/assessments on time a lot easier as you would want to find out more after lectures. Choosing some of your modules, allowed you to pick whatever subject matter had most gravitas for you and made sure the course felt fresh and relevant, even if you didn’t enjoy the few compulsory modules you would have to complete over the year! In terms of location we were based in the Lansdowne campus (close to the sea!) which had compact and friendly facilitates. We had a main large lecture theatre in Bournemouth House and many break out rooms which were great for seminars. In Bournemouth House we also had a library and café which were good for both working and group work/socialising. On reflection, one of my favourite experiences of second year was attending the Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking Awareness conference in Poole which went alongside the Trafficking, Migration and Criminality module I chose to take, it was heart breaking to hear true stories but also so interesting to hear the legal side and how to spot the signs yourself! Overall my experience has been great with stressful points but having a great support network and engaging lecturers has really made my experience so far.