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Hi my name is Adam Moscoe and I'm studying psychology here at the University of Ottawa.
Well Ottawa is my home and for me I love being in Ottawa, which is the center of Canada's
engagement with itself but also the world. This is where people come from all around
the planet to engage on bilateral issues, so as somebody who's interested in politics
and in public policy, this is where you wanna be, regardless of what program you're in.
Well I chose psychology originally in the Bachelor of Science program, because I was
interested in going to medical school. I wanted to have a nice way of getting there. But...
psychology for me turned into an avenue to explore my interests in behavioural science,
in public policy, in mental health issues, in trauma, for example. There's... psychology
is such a broad spectrum of, of issues and you have the opportunity to really go into
many different fields within psychology. Psychology is really... it's intrinsically interesting
because it's about who we are, so there's no abstraction, it's really relevant. I feel
like some of the courses I've taken will make me a better parent, a better lover, all these
things, because it is just so immediately relevant to our lives. Well in first year
I had the chance to do a community service learning course and I had the chance to intern
with the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa. It was a fascinating course because it was
taking a lot of what we had learned about psychology and program management, and actually
putting it into practice and getting credit for it. It's an incredible program, and there's
so many courses where you can do community service projects to get credit for your course.
I also, in second year, I had the chance to be part of the Model United Nations course,
which is a really exciting opportunity for people that are interested in politics and
international affairs, but come from different backgrounds. Students from all the different
programs in Social Science come together and represent a county at the United Nations,
in New York City. We spent the whole semester preparing, and then once we get to New York,
we're facing off with some of the best schools in the world. With a degree in psychology
it's definitely not the end. For me, I've chosen to start a master's in Public and International
Affairs here at the University of Ottawa, which gives me a chance to focus a bit more
on my interests in international affairs, particularly post-conflict issues. In psychology
I had the chance to study trauma and I wrote my thesis on, on trauma issues in children,
and this is a chance to get more into the political issues in post conflict situations,
including trauma. Well I think you have to make your own experience. It's amazing once
you go into first year it can be extremely intimidating. There are some classes where
you will have 400 people, not most classes, just a few, and those classes may intimidate
you because you aren't getting to really voice your concerns, but the, the real thing is
to develop a relationship with professors, the teaching assistants, people who are graduates
students that can really be a valuable source of mentorship and can also connect you with
opportunities, to make a difference.