Emil's Epilogue - December 2010 wreathGustie Psych News & Events

Special (abbreviated) holiday issue...Bucky

 

Mark your calendars...for celebration!

Friday, December 10, 2010

psiThe Psychology Department will celebrate 1) the poster display of student research conducted in the department this semester at the Psychology Student Research Symposium in the lower level of SSC beginning at 3:30 p.m. -- Stop by and acquaint yourself with the research that Psy 225 Methods students have conducted this fall.

ciderThe Psychology Department will celebrate its traditional "frost your own" holiday cut-out cookies and cider gathering for all majors (and gen psych students) beginning at 9:00 a.m. and lasting all day (or until the last cookie has been frosted). Follow the aroma of hot cider to the faculty office suite area in lower level SSC and gather with us for cookies and conversation.

prizeRemember that there will be a prize drawing from among the names of seniors whose photos appear on the senior psychology bulletin board - the winner will be announced at 10:00 a.m. on Friday at the cookie and cider gathering!

gingerbread houseTuesday, December 7 -- Psi Chi members will provide the ingredients for their annual hosting of the campus-wide gingerbread house making event during the evening of Tuesday, December 7. Look for posters with time and location information!

Psy 234 Developmental class participation in "Play Day" photo link

Alumni Update - Heidi Lawson '05

Heidi Lawson '05 is a Gustie honors psychology, criminal justice and political science triple major. She is currently studying constitutional law at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

She writes…

"I'm still plugging away at that PhD. I passed my comprehensive exams this past September, so I'm finally working on my dissertation. I was originally hoping to have the proposal Heidicompleted by December, but it's been pushed back to January at the moment. It's been a very busy semester considering that it's the first one that I'm not taking classes of my own. I'm hoping another year and a half will do it. I'll just have to read a couple thousand court decisions between now and then, and then write about them (I wish I were exaggerating...). I'm starting to think about where I want to end up, and I'm hoping to get a teaching job at a school just like Gustavus. If you could encourage anyone in the poli sci department to take early retirement in a couple years, that would be great timing for me. Otherwise I might have to settle for St. Olaf or something!

I've also been traveling a lot the past year or two. I've got positions on some boards and committees with the American Federation of Teachers and Illinois Federation of Teachers, which is the reason for most of the travel, in addition to a few weddings here and there. In October my woodwind quintet from Gustavus was reunited to play at a friend's wedding in D.C. We had an absolute blast, and didn't sound too bad for a group that was really out of practice."

Some advice for students considering graduate school would be to take your time and really consider it. I don't know anyone who's sorry that they took a year or two off between college and graduate school, and you want to be sure that it's really what you want to do because it's a big commitment. When you're looking for schools, look at individual professors who teach the topic you want to focus on. One of the most important factors of your graduate training is your advisor--it has to be someone you can work with who is supportive of what you're interested in. I'm very lucky to have found such an advisor, and it's made a huge difference! Some advice for students not considering graduate school: good for you! Find a job you like, and maybe you'll find later that a Master's Degree would help, maybe you'll find that you just don't need it. There's plenty of time in life to make those decisions.

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