Meet Some of Our Psychology Students

Towards the end of the semester, you usually have finals or midterms, and there's usually a lot of stuff coming at you. In the well-being courses, they discuss different tools such as deep breathing that you can use in the moment to calm yourself down and keep going. 


We discussed something called Zorro circles, and it's basically like taking something big and breaking it down into small components so it seems more manageable. Instead of like, "Oh, I'm going to go out and write this 100 page paper about a movie," you break it down to introduction, the different things you're going to talk about, and you break it down into those small pieces so it's like, "Oh, I just have to do the introduction today. Oh, I only have to write five sentences here." So I think that's how well-being helps. And then it also helps with everyday stress because life doesn't really follow a set plan. You might have a plan, and then it takes a left turn and you've got to figure out how to adapt to that. Positive psychology and well-being are all about looking at how you can adapt and still stay positive despite changes.

To start with the courses, they have the positive psychology course, which is called the Mindcraft Course with Dr. Quinn, which is really fun. I really enjoyed it, I took it freshman year. And then I'm currently taking a music and well-being course, Music for Health and Well-being with Dr. Colombo, which is about all these tools that you can use to improve your well-being and change your perspective and outlook.


In EHS, Psychology is a smaller major, so the professors all know you. If you need a break, you can talk with the professors. Sometimes I've had times where the whole class was feeling stressed about something and we mentioned it to the professor, and the professor's like, "Here's how it will change that up," or "Here's how we'll move the schedule around so that it'll work best for you guys." And they can still get the stuff that they want in, but they're just kind of more mindful of where people are at. I think they really try to build breaks and stuff into the classes.

So, the resiliency workshops have been a collaboration with Champlain, Harvard University, and Mass General Hospital in Boston, and they've had Dr. Aude Henin comes in. She talks us through resiliency training once a week for an hour. It's always really fun. I look forward to it every Wednesday. It's like a little break in my day that I get to do resiliency and mindfulness stuff. Basically, she'll review what we've talked about the previous week, talk about how we've applied it in our lives, talk about it with the group, then she'll teach us a new concept, a new tool that we'll practice with her in the space. And then she gives us a little assignment to do in between this day and the next week. It's all about looking at it through your personal life, like how you've experienced these different things that she talks about and how the resiliency workshop can help you get through those obstacles that you're facing.

I really like the hands-on learning for my major. Every semester in almost every Psychology class, we did something for the improvement of our community through research. In Cognitive Psychology, I created an advertisement to increase participants that go to an organization's programs and got to pitch my ideas to that organization on campus. In my Social Psychology course, I got to go out in the community and apply what we learned in class about our society, and then come back to class to share what we learn in our professional experiences. In all of my research methods courses, I created my own research project to be implemented and presented at the end of the class. I always felt like my work was really meaningful.

My self-portrait changed my perspective of myself and how I see myself in the world. I wrote an essay called: Their Voice, Their Face, Their Story. This essay was associated with a painting I created that looked like me, but my face was made out of different skin colors to represent how I was the face of the many that I advocated for. I also painted the Earth as earrings so that I could represent carrying the world's burdens on my shoulders. Before Core, I used my activism more individually and passively. After Core and completing my self-portrait, I realized the importance of not just being an advocate but joining with other passionate individuals to make a greater change. Therefore, I participated in more group protests and sit-ins.

I am one of the founders and the captains of the Soul Food Step Team. I helped create the team because I was interested in creating a safe space for Black individuals while also allowing the freedom for artistic expression. Plus, I enjoy using my energy for dancing and hyping up my teammates. I also work with Black Student Union and Shades of Me with events on campus and collaborate with Clemmons Family Farm through dance workshops and education.

The most surprising thing that I've found about Champlain that I wasn't expecting is this tight knit sense of friendship. Although Champlain is a relatively small school, there are always more people to meet, and always someone who can connect you to a new source of friend groups. Something that is still fun to recognize for me is the fact that everyone is friends with everyone. There's an open-ended sense of friendship, and this allows for so many experiences to be had and so many people to connect with in the time you're here.

My favorite class, although there are so many to choose from, would have to be Positive Psychology with Professor Quinn. Aside from her absolutely flawless execution of humor and energy, she truly is very uplifting and encouraging to her students. This made the class even more enjoyable as we focused on the habits that we formed with ourselves, the way that we speak to ourselves, and how to change our circumstances to a more positive way of thinking. We practiced activities like affirmations, gratitude journaling (still something I use every morning), and the power of creative writing. This class allowed me to grow so much within the short semester, and really gave me the confidence I needed within myself to move forward in my education. Overall, this course taught me so much about the world around me and, most importantly, the ability that I carry within the world.

I worked at King Street Center my second year here at Champlain as a work-study and absolutely adored my role as an America Reads Tutor. Working one-on-one with students every day allowed me to make personal connections, the children to feel supported and encouraged, and gave me a great deal of purpose at the time. From this experience, I have learned the importance of feeling valued and supported as well as the further assistance that goes into a child's education. More so, the ability to truly listen and provide support to engage and really connect with those who need this extra care.