MC students present senior studies at Southeastern Psychological Association annual conference
April 26, 2023
When Maryville College Assistant Professor of Psychology Dr. Zachary Himmelberger marvels at the stamina it takes to keep up with eight 22-year-old undergraduates in New Orleans, he isn’t just talking about their adventures on Bourbon Street.
Sure, a visit to the Big Easy wouldn’t be complete without some downtime for enjoying the sights, partaking of the cuisine and dancing to the music. But more than anything else, Himmelberger said, watching them work the room of the Southeastern Psychological Association’s annual conference, held April 4-8, was a testament to both their personal development as budding professionals and the liberal arts education he’s had a part in providing during their time at MC.
A regional conference, the gathering was the first post-COVID conference MC students attended in person, Himmelberger added, and the ability to present their own research and network face-to-face with peers and potential graduate program leaders was invaluable.
“They presented their work for a little more than an hour, and they would stand by their posters, and people would walk around and talk to them about their work and ask questions,” Himmelberger said. “At the same time, it’s a conference filled with graduate schools, so there were all of these other things going on, and there were maybe 20 different representatives of graduate programs they could go talk to. So it was a great opportunity to go hear speakers, check out poster presentations, network with graduate schools and present their own work.
“And honestly, all of our students presented in one of the categories sponsored by Psi Chi, a professional organization for students in psychology — and I think they actually did a better job than the award winners did. Of course, I might be biased, but their work was excellent.”
Students who traveled with Himmelberger to New Orleans, and their projects, included:
- Sara Skibbie ’23, a psychology major from Nashville: “Wayfinding: Acquisition of Survey Knowledge”;
- Mary Elizabeth Shore ’24, a neuroscience major from Knoxville, and Lily Winebarger ’23, a psychology (counseling) major from Brentwood, Tennessee: “Sometimes My Arms Bend Back: Uncanniness as a Personality Trait”;
- Allie Osorio Candelario ’23, a neuroscience major from Sevierville, Tennessee: “The Internal Battle of Immigrant Language Brokers”;
- Abby Garrett ’23, a psychology (counseling) major from Powell, and Kamryn Lee ’22, a psychology alumna from Seymour, Tennessee, who graduated last December: “The Effects of Music and Animal-Assisted Intervention on Stress”;
- Erin Knocke ’22, a neuroscience alumna from Cleveland, Tennessee, who graduated last December: “Nurses’ Attitudes Towards Obese Patients”;
- Haly Scott ’23, a psychology and sociology double major from Cookeville, Tennessee: “An Exploration of Posttraumatic Growth during the COVID-19 Pandemic.”
“I was excited and nervous to enhance my presentation skills and network with fellow psychology students and professionals,” Scott said. “Ultimately, I took away a greater appreciation for psychological research, and I have more belief in myself and a greater desire to one day pursue a Ph.D.”
Many of the projects, Himmelberger added, were developed from the students’ individual Senior Studies, a degree requirement that involves a project that “facilitates the scholarship of discovery within the major field and integrates those methods with the educational goals fostered through the Maryville Curriculum.” And some of the work, he pointed out, was built upon a foundation first laid by past graduates.
“We had eight students attend, but we had another two on posters who are former students (Jay Barrow ’22 and Caleb Cruz ’22) that have stayed in touch and continued to work with us,” Himmelberger said. “That’s a common theme: students continuing to work with us, like the project that Lily (Winebarger) and Mary Elizabeth (Shore) presented. Their work was from my research lab the year prior that a student who graduated (Barrow) was working on. He’s now in a Ph.D. program, but he’s continued to stay in touch and work on it with them.”
That collaboration is a key part of the MC experience, Himmelberger said, and it undoubtedly made the presentations in New Orleans all the more appealing to other attendees.
“All of them attracted a lot of attention from passersby,” he said. “There was always a group interested in their work, and a couple of them had to stay and talk to people who wanted to discuss their work after they were supposed to take their posters down in time for the next group to come in.
“I’m very proud of how they did, and how the College supported them in going. It created an accessible opportunity for those students that would have otherwise been inaccessible to them.”
