Farah Abdulrahman

Name: Farah Abdulrahman 

Age: 21 

Home: Egypt 

Degree: BSc (Hons) Psychology 

Campus: Dubai 

Global College helped to bridge the worlds of school and university for Farah Abdulrahman, a 21-year-old psychology student from Egypt. 

“I knew that university life would be very different from school,” says Farah, who is studying at Heriot-Watt University’s Dubai campus. “Instead of diving head-first into first year, I wanted the opportunity to acclimatise a bit more to university life – and Global College definitely gave me that.” 

The Global College course Farah joined provided students with a pathway into an undergraduate degree programme in Management or Psychology at Heriot-Watt’s Dubai campus. A big advantage for Farah was the chance to learn important academic skills alongside her study. This included courses in academic English, academic presentation skills and academic referencing. 

“It gave me a really strong foundation in the technical skills you need as a university student,” Farah says.  “That gave me an advantage, because when I went into year one of my degree, I’d already practised academic writing, giving presentations and these other skills.” 

Farah also enjoyed the social opportunities that Global College offered.  

“There’s a lot of opportunity to socialise and to get involved with the clubs and societies at the University,” she says. “It's something the professors encourage and there's just a lot of opportunity to sort of find your footing. The way the classes are structured, with lots of discussion and group work, is also very social.” 

During her year at Global College, Farah helped to start an Art Club and became its vice president. 

Interacting with people from so many different backgrounds and working with faculty staff who were generous with their time and knowledge helped Farah to “build character and reflect on the kind of student and person I want to be,” she says. 

Through Global College, Farah joined a four-year Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Psychology at Heriot-Watt University’s School of Social Sciences.  

She is now about to graduate, and is looking forward to continuing her study with a postgraduate masters degree. 

“I want to keep studying towards becoming a practising psychologist and particularly working with children and adolescents,” Farah says. “I think my ambition is just to be part of something that aims to put good in the world and to help people.” 

On Global College, Farah says: “Regardless of your academic or cultural backgrounds, I think Global College has a place for everyone. I've seen that first hand among my classmates. It's just such a great opportunity.”