Martha Gardiner

Tell us about your journey to Abertay…

I actually started off studying something else entirely, Film Studies. I did two years of that while I was living in Edinburgh and I just wanted to come home to Dundee.

I’d taken one tiny Sociology module and decided that I quite liked that. I kind of just stumbled upon this course! I came to Abertay, loved it, and now I’m off to do a Masters in the subject.

Did any staff members have a particular impact on you?

Definitely. The staff are great in the Sociology department because they genuinely care about the subject and the students. They make you feel quite passionate about it.

There are a range of different viewpoints in the department too which makes the teaching really interesting. In class there was a lot of debate and I really enjoyed that.

As for particular members of staff, my supervisor, Dr Ashley Rogers, was amazing. She was really good at encouraging us and keeping us engaged. She actually encouraged me to keep going and study a Masters. She definitely had an impact on me and other people.

What’s your long term ambition?

I really enjoy social research and I’d like to pursue a career in that. I find a number of disciplines within Sociology interesting so I think I’m going to need this extra year to decide which of these I like most.

What advice do you have for the next generation of Sociology students?

Always relate what you’re doing to reality. I like to keep up with the news, and apply theory to what’s going on in the world. You end up becoming a little bit obsessed with the course, I’m not going to lie!