Liberal Arts Major(s): Psychology
Hometown: Upper Darby, Pennsylvania
Experience Time: Spring 2020

Give us a brief summary of your experience?

During the spring semester with the funds that I was awarded, I was able to look at how PTSD can be coded and detected and how you can code someone's emotions based on the pitch of their voice. While not all of the data was fully collected due to the semester ending, I was able to notice that some emotions do affect the pitch of one's voice. Also during my experience, I was able to learn little tasks that will help me such as coding details and various technology skills.

I am excited to see what the future holds with our research and opportunities.

How did this experience impact you academically?

This experience allowed me to look more into the different effects of trauma and PTSD. By doing this, it gave me a wider view on how to look at those who struggle with this and how it can be portrayed in their voice alone without even seeing their facial expressions. Overall, when it came to my other psychology classes, I was able to take some experiences learned in the lab into the classroom setting. Being a part of the research lab allowed me to have better time management which then transferred to me being able to distribute my time to my school work. Also, during lab meetings, we would look into various studies on different topics which increased my knowledge overall.

How will this experience impact your career goals?

This experience will impact my career goals by allowing me to increase my knowledge in the psychology field overall. This in turn will allow me to choose the right path to obtaining my Ph.D after completing my undergraduate years. My career goal is to work as a clinical psychologist with my own firm. This experience swayed my decision to focus on post traumatic stress disorders a little more. Overall the research experience will increase my chances of getting accepted into graduate school immediately following my undergraduate work. 

How has the College of the Liberal Arts helped you to find and/or succeed in this experience (e.g., adviser, faculty, staff, enrichment funds, etc.)?

The faculty and graduate students in my lab assisted me by teaching me all the skills that were needed to succeed, from simple tasks such as formatting a resume to coding relationship conflict or coding voice data. The Relationship and Stress Lab was very helpful. When I was looking for this experience, the staff was very willing to point me in the correct direction to find the lab. After having conversations and looking at the psychology website, I knew that Dr. Amy Marshall's lab was right for me. After I applied and was accepted, Dr. Marshall and everyone under her allowed me to succeed and grow. I am excited to see what the future holds with our research and opportunities.