Four individuals will receive honorary degrees at Saint Anselm’s 130th commencement.

Welcome home, Hawks, and welcome to the Psychology Department blog! This blog provides information for psychology majors, psychology minors, or anyone who has an interest in the psychology field through articles mostly written by our own students regarding upcoming and ongoing events, as well as useful information for poster sessions and conferences, and information about our students and faculty. To start, here’s a recap of some of what we’ve been up to in this first month back and some opportunities to get involved this year. Congrats Maddie Scavatto (’19) The department would like to congratulate our own Maddie Scavatto ’19 for earning the 2018 Fr. Bernard Holmes, O.S.B. scholarship award, which is given to an incoming senior who shows care for and helps others, is a leader on campus, and shows a love of learning. Maddie is a psychology and Spanish double major. She is very involved on campus through being an Academic Resource Center tutor, participating in Relay for Life, volunteering to deliver groceries to residents of Manchester, coaching youth hockey, and being a member of AVERT. Maddie is the co-captain of the women’s ice hockey team and received Academic All-American honors. Psychology Department Meet and Greet: On September 13, 2018, faculty from the department held a meet and greet for all psychology majors and minors. This was an opportunity for returning upperclassmen to reconnect with faculty and for the freshmen to have a chance to put a name to a face. The faculty and students were able to connect about classes, future pathways, and research opportunities. It was a great opportunity to officially welcome in the new school year! Opportunities to get Involved in the Psychology Department: Psychology Ambassadors The Psychology Ambassadors are a group of students that help the department during open houses, giving tours of the department and answering questions regarding their experiences in the department and at St. A’s, going to conferences and poster sessions across New England, and attending dinners and talks with distinguished speakers. A call for applicants interested in the program will be sent out during the Spring semester. Psi Chi Psi Chi is the International Honor Society of Psychology, an organization that focuses on providing opportunities to enhance members’ personal and professional lives, chapter experiences to give members continued engagement, and encouraging members to conduct research and apply the research findings to the field of psychology. Professor Finn and Professor Ossoff are co-sponsors of the Saint Anselm chapter and will contact students that are eligible for this academic honor. (The up and coming!) Psychology Club Psychology Club will be starting up this year, and this club will offer students of all majors the opportunity to come together and discuss research, opportunities in the department, and participate in social activities that are intended engage them in meaningful conversations and discussions and to enjoy some out-of-the class room time together! The club will meet regularly and begin to organize psychology-related events, volunteer and fundraising opportunities, and social activities for this school year. The first meeting will be held on Sept 25 at 6pm in Goulet 3100.

With the college’s new flagship study abroad program in Tuscania, Italy, and Global Seminar courses reaching from France to Argentina—not to mention Covid-19’s decline—students are once again free to move about the world.

Jacki Kinsman, an Anselmian alumni and former psychology major, recently obtained her doctorate in School Psychology at William James College. She talked with us regarding her experiences and offered some advice to current psychology majors. What were some of your favorite classes at the college and why? My favorite classes at Saint Anselm College were definitely my psychology courses. My very favorite psychology classes were taught by Professor Charlene Bonner. Psychology and Law and Abnormal Psychology were by far the most interesting. I loved her style of teaching because she taught us like grown-ups- we got what we put into it and she showed the best videos! She also told us a lot of personalized work-related stories, which is actually a big part of the reason that I decided to go for my doctorate. I also really enjoyed all of the Criminal Justice classes- as I was a Criminal Justice minor. I took a class Social Justice with Professor Humphrey. It was such an interesting class and for an end of the year project we could literally do whatever we wanted. I chose to write letters to death row inmates and they wrote back; thus starting an end of the year journal project. I have always loved to get into people's minds and figure them out. Did anything about Saint A's start you on your path to getting your doctorate? Both Professor Bonner and Professor Finn were extremely influential in starting me on my path to get my doctorate. They were driven and loved their jobs, but most importantly they always believed in me. I knew that I wanted me to be the best that I could be and that included going as far as I could with my education. I was horrible with math and was failing my statistics class at one point. I remember setting up a meeting with Professor Finn and breaking down into tears because I just didn't think I could do it. He spent endless hours after class helping me understand the world of statistics and always reminded me that I COULD do it- and I did (just barely)! Professor Finn also told me that there was one thing that I would never ever regret and that would be getting an education. People can take your job away, but they can never take away your education. He was so right; despite my mountain of student loans, I have never, ever, regretted getting an education. What was your senior thesis about? My senior thesis experiment was The Overlap Between Superstitious Behaviors and Obsessive Compulsive Symptoms in College Athletes. I chose this topic because I personally suffer from anxiety and I was also a student athlete at Saint A's. I played softball and I had a lot of superstitious behaviors that mirrored obsessive compulsive symptoms. My findings revealed that a lot of student athletes, specifically athletes from Saint Anselm College suffer from similar superstitious thoughts and OCD-like symptoms. How did Saint Anselm prepare you for the work you did post-graduation? My education at Anselm College was HARD. Graduate school was by far easier than undergrad. I tell people every day that graduate school took a lot of my TIME, but I was doing something that I loved. I understood it. Undergrad was hard because I had to take a broad range of classes, some that interested me more than others. However, Saint Anselm instilled in me a lot of determination, a strong work ethic, and really phenomenal writing skills. Some of this stemmed from the fact that most colleges do not require their psychology majors to write a thesis, thus setting Saint Anselm College apart from other schools. Are there any notable internship or volunteer experiences that helped you decide a specific area of Psychology to study? I decided not to do an internship at Saint Anselm College because I spent a significant amount of time outside of class as a student athlete. However, I made sure that I got involved wherever I could. I volunteered through the Melia Center and I did a lot of work at the Youth Development Center in Manchester and Webster House, a safe haven for troubled children. Working with these troubled youth really helped me decide upon an area that I wanted to concentrate in. I decided pretty early on that I wanted to become a Child Psychologist, and more specifically do some work in schools. Since then I have branched out to also do some work in the field of neuropsychology, by conducting evaluations for children and families. Do you have any advice for current Psychology Majors? My advice would be very similar to Professor Finn’s. You will never regret getting an education. If you truly like psychology, stick with it! There are many jobs that people with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology go on to do.  If you truly love it, keep at it. For me, it is the most rewarding job in the world, and there is nothing else like it. If you have your heart set on becoming a psychologist, go for the gold- get that doctorate, I promise you, you will not regret it. This last question isn't related to academics, but do you have any notable memories about the Election period that took place during your time at Saint A's? Recently the school hosted a Republican debate and the school was very busy with that. I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I really tried to distance myself from politics, despite the fact that my best friend and four-year roommate Kaitlyn McClure '07 was VERY involved in it (at Saint Anselm College and now). I suppose my most notable memories stemmed from the work that she did. Kaitlyn's very own hard work and determination during the election period that took place during our time at Saint Anselm College got her to where she is now. A couple of years ago she was on Mitt Romney's campaign and worked on Capitol Hill in D.C. I suppose it ties to the overall theme of what I'm saying here- you can do absolutely anything with the right drive and determination- even work for a presidential candidate.