What was the spark to choose clinical work as your focus?

I really enjoyed all the experiences I've had working with people. I worked in the Emmaus Center for Spiritual Life & Vocation all four years. I started off as an ALIVE apprentice and then I was an ALIVE mentor helping other students on their faith journeys, and for the last year and a half, I was a campus-wide organizer. I got to form strong bonds with students in my residence hall and got to learn a lot more about how to put on events and how to make meaningful connections. With Agape Latte (a faith storytelling group), I was able to form relationships with professors and staff like Ivy Summers and Dr. Howard Ebert (Theology).

I really enjoyed the courses Abnormal Psychology and Personality Psychology. They both have a clinical emphasis. So, it was just knowing that I wanted to work within human services and then taking more classes within clinical psychology with Dr. Michelle Schoenleber, a licensed clinician, that helped me decide what I wanted to do.

What educational and research opportunities did you pursue at SNC?

I was a research assistant for Dr. Danielle Geerling (Psychology) for two years. I helped with her research and looked at the effects of writing about egalitarianism on the perception of a company's diversity. That research led to a poster presentation at the Midwestern Psychological Association Conference and a manuscript with Dr. Geerling that we turned in for publication.

I was also a tutor and a note-taker for statistics and Personality Psychology classes on campus. That was good experience helping others, and I had to learn how to teach the material. Refreshing my knowledge of stats was really helpful. I think that experience will help me going into grad school and having to take advanced statistics courses.

I took every single one of Dr. Raquel Lopez's (Psychology) classes and one of them was a community engagement where I got to volunteer at a local nonprofit for a semester. I was also a Brown County probation parole intern, and I was an advocate for sexual assault survivors for three years and a court-appointed special advocate for a year, both with Brown County's health services.

What excites you about your new program and career?

It's the only Psy.D. program in Wisconsin. I like that it's in Milwaukee and has a lot of opportunity for practicum sites. Throughout the program I'll have three practicum sites and then one internship. It is a smaller program; there are only fifteen people in my cohort versus other places where it's around a hundred. I like that there is potential for closer connections with community and faculty members. Also, it's a night program, so I can get all my practicum hours done during the day and not stress about working around classes.

I'm excited to enter the workforce, and I'm excited to work with people. In my Brown County probation and parole internship, I got to make office visits and work one-on-one with clients with skill practice and cognitive behavioral stuff. I really enjoyed working within an office and with clients, so I'm really excited to take that one step further and be able to do counseling and assessment with clients one day.