Laura Brumby was driven to study psychology so she could help people. And in the process, psychology has changed both her career goals, and her sense of self.
“Like a lot of people, when I started Psychology, I intended to be a clinician. That's the really visible version of psychology.
“What I didn’t realise is that psychology is something that applies to how pretty much everything in the world works,” she said.
The most useful thing about psychology is that it sets you up to be a critical thinker and to be more empathetic. That’s something that helps, and also changes, the way you live your everyday life.
Laura enjoyed her fourth year Bachelor of Psychological Science Honours project so much that she is now studying a PhD in Psychology.
“I had the good fortune of working with a brilliant supervisor whose enthusiasm for research was infectious.
I saw that doing good science can help make the world a better place. That was really inspiring for me. That was the game-changer for me. For me research is the thing that empowers me to be a driver of change in the world.
Laura’s research is investigating how cognitive psychology can improve educational and health outcomes.
“I’m interested in a broad range of areas, from helping students to engage in more optimal study behaviours, to helping people better understand health messages.
“I have the privilege of working alongside people who do more forensic research, so they are looking at things like ‘why do juries make decisions in the ways they do.’ These are things that have real implications.
It was surprising for me when I started getting into Psychology that we can save lives, and not just in a crisis management situation.
“We can help people look after their health, or we can help people get a fair trial. In some countries, that is the difference between life and death.
“A Psychology degree sets you up to help people in a lot of ways that I didn’t even imagine were possible.”
Laura firmly believes that studying Psychology has something useful to offer everyone.
I think by going through a Psychology degree you gain something valuable, and perhaps, like me, it will change what you want for the rest of your life.
“I hope my PhD will be the start of a long career doing good science and good research.
“I love what I do and I think I’m very privileged to be where I am.”
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