My "human" side

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Family    Personal History    First Vacation in Many Years    Secret Passion
 

Each of us has aspects of ourselves that are seen by all, what some personality theorists might consider our dominant traits.  However, some aspects of our thoughts, feelings and behaviors are only observed in certain settings.  To really get to know someone, it is helpful to view them in a multitude of settings and months of the year.  For example, some of my students commented on how unusual (or weird) it was to talk with me during the summer months.  During the semesters I typically dress in a professional yet conservative manner.  Once the summer months arrive (and I am not officially teaching or 'on duty'), I adopt a very causal attire: jeans + T-shirt + sandals, with an optional ponytail.  This attire also makes me look younger. 

*I think some day I might want to do a study on impression formation: (a) meeting your professor in the summer (i.e., causal attire) then taking one of their classes during the year vs. (b) taking one of their classes then seeing them in the summer in causal attire.  --I'm perpetually curious about a variety of things, most of all about human behavior.

Family - Mostly the furry kind at this point in time

My husband and I lived in Chicago, IL where we first met while attending DePaul University.  He completed his bachelor's in Computer Science and I completed my bachelor's in Psychology.  Jeff was hired at STATS, Inc. (a sport's statistics company) in 1993 after completing his degree and still works there today; company is now called STATS, LLC.  We just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on July 12, 2007; however we've known each other for 14 years.  We are both cat, dog, bunny, and aquatic creature lovers; however, we currently do not have any dogs and our bunny passed away in May of 2005.  Our two oldest cats are now 12 years old, as of April 2007.  Our youngest cats are 5 years old.

Personal History - Current to past

I'm an Assistant Professor of Psychology at UCM (University of Central Missouri) in Warrensburg, Missouri since the fall of 2006.  Warrensburg is located about a 45-minute drive southeast of Kansas City, MO.

I was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Missouri Western State University (MWSU; in St. Joseph, Missouri) for one-year (2005-2006).  At that time, I was living in two different cities (St. Joseph, MO during the week and Manhattan, KS on the weekends). I developed several friendships which I'm trying hard to maintain.  I'm one of the worst pen pals.  My best friend in San Diego had to track me down after years of losing touch . . . which reminds me that I need to send her an update before the summer ends ;0)

Ah, the graduate school years . . . all 7.5 years of them.  I started the Social/Personality Psychology Ph.D. program in the fall of 1997 at Kansas State University (Manhattan, Kansas).  As an undergraduate (in Chicago, see below), I had acquired a pretty good set of research skills and abilities prior to applying to graduate school however I was not a good test taker (e.g., very low GRE-general and GRE-subject test scores).  I count myself lucky and fortunate to have been accepted into the K-State program.  In 2002, I started working full-time in the Office of Assessment at K-State while still working on my graduate education.  By that time I had completed my course work and was studying/preparing for the preliminary exams.  As I mentioned before about not being a good test taker, I did not perform well the first time I took those pre-lims.  Hence, I worked in a full-time job while restudying for those tests, then pasted, then spent another year working to finish the Ph.D.

*Hidden message here:  Persistence, hard work, and determination (insert stubbornness) can help you finish what you might think is an impossible task!

I continued working in the Office of Assessment and eventually was promoted to Assistant Director.  For those thinking about becoming a professor, you will learn about the "dark side" of academia.  I have often run into this phrase as it is applied to faculty who become administrators such as department chairs, college deans, or Provosts.  I entered the "dark side" before I became a faculty member, quite an unusual path . . . a theme that frequently describes how my life and choices have guided me.  I left this institution in August of 2005 to accept a faculty position at MWSU.

Oh boy (why not "oh girl"? as my childhood babysitter would ask me) we're moving to the Wind City.  My immediate family moved to Chicago, IL months before I started my senior year in high school.  My mother's extended family lives in Chicago and in parts of Indiana.  One year later I was accepted into DePaul University (in Chicago) where I decided to major in Psychology.  Initially I was a biology major, then a psychology major, then deciding later on to dual major in biology and psychology, and eventually earned the B.S. in psychology with a minor in biology.  In the psychology program at DePaul I had the choice of 5 different tracks or areas of psychology I could focus on.  I started in one track (Human Services) and several hands-on experiences later discovered that counseling was not going to be a good fit for me.  I changed tracks right before my senior year, which meant that I would be at DePaul for another year.  I am very appreciative of the knowledge and skills acquired with working with Dr. Leonard Jason, Dr. Joseph Ferrari, and Dr. Kathryn Grant.

Thus, after a 5-year bachelor's degree and "taking a year off" (ha! ha! ha!--you'll have to ask me if you want that particular story) to work, I finally applied to graduate school.

*Remember that message about stubbornness, well I applied to more schools than what my credentials would support.  In other words, I applied to some programs that were extremely competitive because I was very interested in the program.  By applying to so many schools (another question to ask me in person), I had a high number of rejection letters.  On a positive note, I was invited for an on-campus interview for a master's degree program . . . that was an excellent experience.  In the end I received two acceptances, one at the master's programs where I had interviewed and the one I accepted (i.e., the Ph.D. program at Kansas State University).

Based on past experience, I highly encourage students to research their "fit" with any organization whether it is in academia or the business world.

The fondness of childhood memories . . . My life from birth to just before my senior year in high school was spent in San Diego, California.  I developed a few strong friendships, one or two of them I'm still in contact with.  The shortness of this history conveys the complexity in which I tend to talk about my past.  I lot of who I am today comes from those experiences, however, the road to who you are or who you want to become may be as rocky and challenging as mine was.  For example, my issue with tests extends back into my grade school (elementary) years.  I have periodically encountered (all the way through graduate school training) highly intelligent people who could not explain concepts/ideas to people who did not already understand this information.  It is very frustrating to learn with those types of interactions with educators.  Part of these struggles I think make me a better teacher.  I strive to explain difficult concepts in multiple ways, tapping into different learning styles (e.g., visual, auditory, kinesic), or I try to be patient as a learner attempts to explain their difficulty with a concept.  I admit that I'm not always successful, but it is a goal/mission I continue to strive for.

*(During that first year 2006-2007) I have to admit that where I'm currently at I may not have displayed a patient nature.  Part of this is due to several confrontations I encountered to the way I interact with students in this particular setting.  Hitting a brick wall (or similar images that come to mind with difficulty situations) can momentarily change how we express ourselves to others.  As things settle down, I hope to return to behaviors that more closely match the type of teacher I want to be for my students . . . I'm happy to report that things have improved with students adjusting to higher expectations and me adjusting to different approaches students' take to their learning.  My stubbornness and persistent continue to help me stay true to wanting to help students learn psychology and professional/career development.

Our mini-vacation to San Diego, CA (May 2005)

One of my secret passions, unless you've stepped foot in my office:

I am a big fan of Amy Brown's art work