Meet our MA Cyber Crime and Terrorism Graduate, Ffion
My name is Ffion Edwards and I am from Neath Port Talbot, South Wales. Before attending Swansea University to study for my degree and postgraduate course, I attended school at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Ystalyfera, where I studied my GCSE’S and A-levels.
At Swansea University, I studied for a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice, where I went on to study the MA in Cybercrime and Terrorism. I chose to carry on my postgraduate studies at Swansea University because my experience as an undergraduate was awesome. I decided to study the MA in Cybercrime and Terrorism because both are one of the biggest threats that face society today. Therefore, I was intrigued in understanding the response to both, as well as gaining a vast amount of knowledge to pursue a career related to the topics I have studied throughout the university.
The most enjoyable part of studying this postgraduate course was the opportunities given throughout. Firstly, the course offers amazing internships. The successful students had the experience to gain practical and theoretical skills researching components that relate to terrorism and cybercrime, and also had the opportunity to work alongside experts in the field. The opportunity to do an internship within the MA in Cybercrime and Terrorism is advantageous because it gave the successful student vital skills for careers they aspire to work in the future
Secondly, the guest speakers that attended our lectures were highly qualified professionals in the fields of cybercrime and terrorism, not only from the UK, but they were professionals worldwide. This allowed us to ask real-time questions about ongoing criminal events that were, or had taken place worldwide. Receiving advice, information, and in-depth knowledge from highly qualified professionals was extremely inspiring and a remarkable opportunity, that would be difficult to achieve outside of studying this MA.
Thirdly, the modules within the MA were extremely interesting and up to date. This allowed students and myself to write up assignments based on events that occurred days or even months before. This was extremely interesting because cybercrime and terrorism is an ongoing issue that still occurs in the present day. Therefore, understanding, learning and writing about real-time events made me connect to the course.
I would like to re-assure prospective students that the support given by the lecturers within Swansea University was fantastic. The staff communicated via teams, phone call or e-mail, and if an issue arose the staff made themselves clear that they were always available to help. During my time studying the MA in Cybercrime and Terrorism, the Covid-19 pandemic arose. Although this was unimaginable, it was not a disbelief because the staff were continuously communicating with us which suggested that support was essential. Statistics suggest that Swansea University is the 10th best university in 2020. I can imagine that the support from the staff was taken into consideration for this award.
Therefore, I would recommend any prospective students to study this course because of the skills and knowledge you’ll gain related to topics that will undoubtedly always be an issue to society. Moreover, you will have opportunities to write assignments based on your findings of criminal events that have shocked the whole world, which can be extremely valuable for any career in the field of cybercrime and terrorism. Contradictory to the academic perspective of the course, the university has a virtuous nightlife which has been rated the 9th best student city for nightlife. The university is also minutes away from Swansea beach where students can enjoy the fresh air and relax at the same time.
Outside of Swansea University, I am a Special Constable for South Wales Police. As a Special Constable I protect and re-assure the people of South Wales by working alongside regular officers. I enjoy being a Special Constable because I have the same powers, uniform and equipment as regular officers suggesting I can attend the same calls to help fight crime. I have been a special constable throughout a large amount of my time at Swansea University. However, since graduating and leaving my part-time job at Filco Supermarkets, I still remain as a Special Constable, nonetheless, I have taken up a full-time role working in fraud. I have a passion for this role and it relates a considerably large amount to my studies at Swansea University which I will forever be grateful for and proud of.
