Psych Insight
WPA 2013 Recap Written by Juan Hidalgo 3rd This year the Western Psychological Association Convention was held in Sin City Jr., Reno, Nevada. On the three-hour drive I had many mixed feelings. I was excited for a nice weekend with friends and away from campus. I was anxious because I would be presenting for the first time at a WPA convention and I was a little tired from studying for Learning and Memory for hours upon end. After exploring our huge hotel I decided to go to bed to get ready for our presentation early the next morning. Presentation time came and all the pressure seemed to just go away. It was so much fun talking about our research and explaining all of our findings. I felt like a teacher and every person that approached me was my new and very interested student. The time flew by fast and before I knew it I had a lot of free time. As I walked from poster to poster I began to talk to students from different Undergraduate and Graduate programs. I made a lot of new friends and was able to get good info on some prospective Graduate schools. Then came the time to go to the presentation that I had been waiting for all day. Phillip Zimbardo was set to speak and I knew that I wanted to be there. I listened to the very interesting presentation and afterwards I got to take a handful of fun pictures with my new friend, Dr. Zimbardo. I also got to talk to his research assistant about some ideas I had about their research. Somehow I was able to impress her and receive her contact information so we could be in contact. Needless to say I walked away very excited.
Issue #3, June 3, 2013
Upcoming Events Graduation!!! Come and support your fellow Psychology graduates! See page 3 for a list of all psychology major graduates.
June 16
Father’s Day Don’t forget to tell your dad, grandpa, and uncle how much you appreciate them!
June 16 “If you care enough for a result, you will most certainly attain it.” – William James
WPA was an experience that I will never forget, nor would I trade. If you have the chance, spend the money, and go have a good time. Presenting or not, it is an experience that you will appreciate for many years to come. And who knows, maybe you will have the privilege of having Zimbardo choke you.
Psych Insight
Issue #3, June 3, 2013
Meet the new 2013-2014 Psychology Club Officers Jennifer Patten, President Hi there! My name is Jennifer and I am a junior psychology major. I am very thrilled and honored to serve as your incoming Psych Club President. Two fun facts about me: I am highly allergic to peanuts and I survived a hurricane last summer (slight exaggeration there). I love the psychology department so much, and my ultimate goal is to make it a place where other people, particularly underclassmen, feel welcome too. One thing I want to make happen next year is to bring back the Bandura Bobo doll party, because let’s be honest: we all want to hit something around Dead Week and it would be a nice study break. Plus: FOOD. Need I say more? Of course, we welcome suggestions from you, so please talk to me or one of the other officers if you have an idea. Hope to see you all around the department sometime! Danielle Nelson, Secretary Hello friends, my name is Danielle Nelson and I will be the secretary for the Psych Club this coming year! I am so excited to be part of such a talented group of scholars and I feel honored to have been given the opportunity to use my skills to help better the Psychology program. I will be helping organize pre-vespers, fundraisers, and other club meetings that will help facilitate a great year for our department. Particularly, I want to find new ways to fund-raise for our department in order to finance our research pursuits and WPA trip. I would love for as many people to participate as possible and I'm hoping we can find some more efficient ways to get some hard cold cash! I am excited to be a part of the Psych program this year and look forward to working with the department.
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Melabi Amponsah, Vice President Hey guys! My name is Melabi and I am currently a junior. I’m really excited to be next year’s VicePresident. I am looking forward to working with all the officers and helping to make the Psych club the best it can be next year. Hopefully we will be able to put together fun activities to involve all the majors and let everyone have a good time; this includes going to WPA in Portland next year! We welcome any ideas anyone has in order to make next year as memorable as possible. Just let any of us know of any contribution you have and we will be sure to include them in our discussions. Hope to see you at our first event! Holly Batchelder, Treasurer I am a junior psychology major, most interested in clinical psychology and especially child development. Positive psychology is also something I am interested in and I believe it's a growing area! I can't wait for next year and I am looking forward to working extra hard on fundraising and making the most out of our funds at for the psychology club. I would love to have more social events and activities for our club and to make sure that WPA is a memorable success! I can't wait to get to know the new psychology majors for next year and to create a more family environment between us. We are going to have a great year! Jenny Lee, Psych Insight Editor I’m very excited to be the editor for Psych Insight next year! These newsletters are something that I would have loved to have as an underclassman, and I feel fortunate to be able to take part in making these as a Psychology Club officer. Psych Insight came out in winter quarter of this year, and I really want to make it a permanent part of the Psychology Club. I hope that the Psychology Club newsletter can help people get more involved in club activities, and that it may also serve as a way to connect to the alumni and other supporters of the Psychology Club.
Psych Insight
Issue #3, June 3, 2013
Psychology Graduates, Where are they Headed? the readings and other homework. Of course, this takes plenty of time, but I’ve found that doing so has been completely worth it.
Name: Alex Larson Age: 22 Hometown: Yucaipa, CA Motto: “Never judge a philosophy by its abuse.” – St. Augustine
Is there anything you did not do, but wish you had done as a psychology major at PUC? Maybe it is something you think would help when applying to/attending graduate school. Two things: first, I wish I had prepared more for graduate school by studying for the GRE, and second, I wish that I could have found more excuses to hang out in the department, either through work or study.
What graduate school will you be attending and what will you be studying? I will be studying for my PhD in Clinical Psychology at Loma Linda University. What do you intend to do with your degree? I hope to use my degree to enter the field of psychotherapy, although I’m interested in both research opportunities as well as teaching, eventually.
What do you do to relieve stress as a student at PUC? I enjoy talking with my friends, either over food or video games. On occasion I will read as well, usually non-fiction. When I’m really stressed, I clean my room!
What was the most challenging aspect of being a psychology major at PUC? What was the most rewarding? Perhaps the most challenging aspect has been keeping up with the homework while maintaining sleep and something of a personal life. My interpretation of completing homework includes attempting to apply what I am learning to my own life somehow in an attempt to engage myself in
What’s your number one piece of advice for undergraduate psychology students at PUC? Take your homework assignments seriously. Your professors aren’t interested in busy work; everything they assign has significance to the course they are teaching. Also, because you’re studying a human science, most of what you’ll be reading can pertain to your life in some way.
PUC Class of 2013 Psychology Graduates
Hannah Ethridge
Sandra Gates
Danielle Hagood
Alexander Larson
William Lutz
Carolina Meza
Kristianne Ocampo
Matthew Phelps
Laur-Edine Pierre
Katherine Pope
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Psych Insight
Issue #3, June 3, 2013
Through the Camera Lens