Summer Activities
This semester, we have seven students working in the Peer Lab on a variety of projects. Here’s what they have been up to this summer.
Annalee Wilson
I am a senior psychology major and I am excited for my first semester as a member of the Peer Lab! Over the summer I worked as a full time research assistant at Boston University’s Developing Minds Lab. The lab studies infants and children up to the age of 10 years and focuses on object and numeric memory as well as social cognition. One of the studies I was able to conduct was a spin off of the marshmallow test, looking at the impact of children’s prosocial tendencies on their ability to delay gratification. I am excited to continue work in the area of child development with the Peer Lab this year. I hope to learn new research skills and become more familiar with the research in this field. Most of all, I am looking forward to being able to interact with the children and their families.
Seung Hyo Ki
I am a junior, majoring in psychology. This summer was one of the craziest times of my life, because I decided to change my intended career due to the internship that I got to work at for the whole summer. Since I thought I wanted to teach middle school students, I had a great opportunity to teach middle school students math and other fun activities for SML Good Neighbors Middle School Academy in Virginia. The internship gave me a chance to deal with children’s problems with behavior and thoughts. I look forward to learning and using the methods and results of studies later as I study to become a child psychiatrist.
Leticia Maganga
I spent the first three weeks of the summer vacation in Berlin for the May Term on Multiculturalism and Diversity. It was an enjoyable experience that kick-started an eventful summer. After the May Term, I began my four-week internship in the Psychiatry and Mental Health Department at the Muhimbili National Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I was able to work with clinical psychologists, psychiatrists, occupational therapists and social workers. It was a gratifying experience as it enabled me to fully appreciate the need for a variety of mental health professionals to assess and diagnose a patient’s problem accurately. It has also cemented my focus on Clinical Psychology as it is such a fascinating field. The remaining month of the summer holiday I spent traveling all over Tanzania visiting family and friends! I am excited for the Peer Lab this semester as I get to work on new projects like working with the Eye Tracker and being a part of the Birth to Five team!
Lara Khalifeh
I spent the first half of my summer in Peru volunteering with the Foundation of Medical Relief for Children and hiking! It was all part of an Earlham May term. The second half of my summer was in Lebanon, my home country. I had an internship with a child psychologist using applied behavior analytic research to teach emotion expression in autistic children. I also helped with data collection for an NGO that aims to build houses out of recycled plastic for Syrian refugees around the world. Other than that, I just enjoyed the beach and being around my family and friends. Coming back to Earlham, I am really excited to work in the Peer Lab for my 4th and last year! I’m looking forward to further improving my research skills as I plan to take a year off working as a researcher before I apply for graduate school.
Ro Vieira
I am a Senior Psychology Major (Spanish Minor), and I cannot wait to start another semester here at Earlham with an opportunity to collaborate with Rachael such as this! After spending the Spring semester in Spain, I went home to the Azores islands in Portugal to spend three months interning at a youth hostel for tourists. I wanted to interact as many nationalities as possible, and see what different types of people chose to stay over at a youth hostel rather than a regular hotel. I also took my driver’s license and got to drive around my island, and went to Paris in July to see Norah Jones perform live! I am eager to start running studies and learning a bit more about behavioral psychology, as I might want to pursue Clinical Psychology in the future!
Ethan Perkins
I am a sophomore Psychology major, currently working on my first research project with Rachael. I spent the first half of my summer reconnecting with friends and family, while also trying (and failing) to teach myself French. While I may not have learned too much of the language, it helped to rekindle my interest in francophone culture and made me want to learn the language even more. During the second half of my summer, I had the opportunity to visit a close friend in New York. After this wonderful experience, I visited northern France with my family. This allowed me to get a glimpse of the similarities and differences between people in urban and rural France and urban America, which gave me a greater appreciation for both cultures. I look forward to working with Rachael and the team, developing myself as a researcher, and learning more about what interests me within the field of Psychology.
Montana Ross
I am a senior psychology major and I’m so happy and grateful to be spending my final semester as a research assistant to Rachael! This summer I spent my time working alongside founder Scherezade Tillet and her sister, co-founder Dr. Salamishah Tillet non-for-profit organization, A Long Walk Home. There I was the Program coordinator assistant and worked hand on with young black girls in the inner city of Chicago’s west side through the use of art therapy and art activism to fight and end gender based violence against women and girls. I also started training for the upcoming 2017-2019 Basketball season as an Indiana Pacemate! To add to the excitement of working in the Peer lab this semester I’m also choreographing my first ever dance performance, other than sports games!