Safia Zerdazi
- Course: BSc Sport and Exercise Science
The Choosing your University Checklist:
1. Choose campus or city based?
What attracted me to come to Leeds over other Universities I had been looking at was the campus University and how close it was to the city centre. Being really into sports the sports centre and gym particularly really amazed me when I came for the visit day and it was an image that stuck in my head when I was choosing what university to come to. The students union also really stuck in my head, it was so much more impressive than any others I had seen and was amazed by the number of opportunities there were going on.
2. Social life - Don’t feel left out, make sure your student experience is going to be great!
Highlights of being on the Sport and Exercise science course were making so many new friends so quickly as it was such a sociable course. The experience of being in labs or such high quality. Even though it was tough at times the feeling of accomplishment when handing in the dissertation and how proud I felt knowing all the hard work I had put into it was a real highlight for me. At graduation, I was Awarded the Adamson Award for outstanding achievement in Biomechanics. This was a real honour and I felt so proud as Biomechanics had really underpinned my love for Sports Science.
3. Research topics – make sure you are research areas you are really passionate about
My research project was in the field of Biomechanics and it was looking at footwear. It was looking into whether the minimalist shoes were an accurate representation of actual barefoot running. I collected data in the labs from 6 participants running on a treadmill in a complete barefoot condition, running in a sock and in a minimalist shoe. I collected kinematic (movement data) by placing retro-reflective markers on specific anatomical points on the participant's body which were picked up by the 13 optoelectronic cameras in the lab through a system called Qualysis. I also recorded force data through a system called Pedar. This is effectively an insole with 99 force transducers in picking up the amount and area of force whilst the participant is running on the treadmill.
4. The future - what do you want to do with your future? What help there is?
My research project has given me valuable lab skills that are now essential for my masters' project. The research project and all other coursework throughout my 3 years have definitely improved my writing style and technique and my ability to use excel for producing lab reports. Again skills which are now essential for my Masters. In the future, I hope to have a job-based in the field of Biomechanics so I feel these two main skills will also help me with this future work. I found the topic of my project really interesting and footwear is potentially an area I would like to work in in the future.