My journey to studying Politics and International Relations started with my GCSEs, when, along with preparations for the exams, I had to make a choice to study either English or Biology for the A-levels. Biology was the science that I understood the most and performed better in. At the same time, enjoying English literature lessons, readings, and English language in general, I found myself not being fully interested in this subject, so studying it in-depth as part of my A-levels was not an option.
Even that I neither considered choosing Sociology, I quite enjoyed this subject during my GSCE’s studies, which prompted me to look into the social sciences department. Psychology was definitely not a part of my choice, as it includes a lot of science which was not my cup of tea, but an option to study Politics seemed very interesting for me.
It was a new subject for me, but I was always interested in current affairs and the countries politics in general. My initial interest in politics was focused on the study of international relations and how other countries operate. I was passionately striving to understand global events, like Libya’s civil war, Brexit, and Gaddafi assassination, because the consequences of these events had such a global scale, shaping the modern world. That is why I finally chose Politics for my A-levels since it was something I was very interested in and it also linked to my History A-level (where I studied the British empire and the policies). Eventually, studying Politics at A-levels made it clear for me that this was the subject I liked the most, because even being very interested in my other A-level subjects (like History and Religious Education), I still did a majority of my extra work for politics and enjoyed it to a greater extent.
But during my second year of A-levels, I have realized that along with Politics, I would also like to study International Relations, as these two disciplines are very interconnected.
I had some doubts about choosing Politics and IR for my university studies at first (as I was unaware of the career path I might pursue as I graduate), but then I had a chance to talk to a woman in my workplace, who has graduated with a degree in Politics and IR and who has dispelled all my doubts by talking about various career options that I will have.
I have always enjoyed writing, so I came up with one potential route in my head – international journalist. I know that this is not a conclusive route or job option, but this is definitely the one that I would like to further explore.
Humayra Rahman, Year 1, BA (Hons) Politics and International Relations, Year 1.