How did you decide to major in Psychology?

I began college with plans to attend medical school and previously shadowed a pediatrician who had also majored in Psychology. However, as I took more classes in UNL’s Psychology Department, I realized that I enjoyed my coursework and had interest in pursuing a career in psychology. Around this time, I took Dr. Nelson’s abnormal psychology class and learned about pediatric psychology. I decided to get involved in research and worked in two different research labs, which ultimately led me to pursue graduate school and a career in pediatric psychology.

Tell us about what you are currently doing in graduate school:

I am a third year graduate student at the University of Florida in the Department of Clinical and Health Psychology. I am in the process of completing my qualifying exam to become a doctoral candidate. I am also working to develop my dissertation study. My major area of study is Pediatric Psychology.

Please share about your research interests and experiences thus far:

My research is generally focused on family disease management of pediatric chronic illnesses. I have helped with a behavioral lifestyle intervention for overweight and obese youth with asthma and their families. For my dissertation, I am planning to examine patient-caregiver-provider communication at doctor’s appointments for adolescents with food allergy. It has been very rewarding to work directly with patients and medical teams to see if there are ways we can help families optimize disease management. I also see weekly therapy patients and travel to a rural school to provide therapy to students in a school-setting.

What do you hope to do when you finish school?

I love research, but also find clinical work to be really rewarding. While I have not figured out how I will balance these two interests, I definitely see myself working in a hospital setting and somehow combining the two. My favorite part of graduate school is having clinical experiences that directly inform my research ideas.

How did your time as a student prepare you for the work you are doing now?

I am very grateful for my time at UNL and feel that many of the skills I learned from my professors and coursework continue to benefit me in my graduate training. I feel fortunate that I was able to take classes directly from faculty as an undergraduate student. Most importantly, I feel like my research experiences at UNL were instrumental in preparing me for graduate school.

Recommendation to current PSYC students:

If I could recommend one thing to a current student it would be to get involved in research. I was able to complete a UCARE project which helped to foster my interests and skills in research and provided me with an opportunity to work closely with the incredible faculty at UNL.