Psychology
B.S. Psychology (2009) M.A. Educational Leadership, Higher Education, Student Personnel Services (2012)
UCF Psychology Advising Center (since internship May 2009)
I am an academic advisor for Psychology majors at UCF and have been doing it to some extent since May 2009 as a Peer Advising Intern during my undergraduate degree.
I was the Chair and Founder for UCF Psychology Alumni from 2009-2011 until UCF Alumni combined all of College of Sciences alumni together.
I transferred to UCF with my AA from Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State) just 1 year after high school. I started orientation as a Psychology major and was completely overwhelmed with the idea of taking statistics and physiological classes needed for Psychology when I knew I wanted to be an Academic Advisor. I switched majors to Interdisciplinary Studies B.A., but then in that same first semester went back to Psychology since I enjoyed my Psychology courses more even with all the science and math involved! I learned that even though my courses did not directly transfer to the career I had in mind, they helped me understand human behavior, critical thinking, and research skills needed for my job as an advisor (or any job really). My advice, from my experience, is that if you’re transferring to (or just transferred to) UCF, no matter what major you do, you need to have an idea of what you want from your degree as well as maybe two or three parallel plans if something happens to your first idea. It’s best to come to UCF prepared with knowing you need to get involved as soon as possible no matter what idea you have, because your time as a student goes by fast! There are so many opportunities available to UCF students that may not be there after graduation. I ended up graduating with my B.S. three semesters after I transferred and just two years after my high school diploma. Having the drive to be an advisor is what landed me the Peer Advising internship and got me into the Higher Education MA immediately after my degree when I was still only 21 years old.
I worked part-time at a movie theatre as a Supervisor in Concession in Melbourne during my time at UCF where I met my now husband as well as several awesome life-long friends. It was a tough job, but the experience helped me gain teamwork skills, leadership skills, and training which carried me into getting my Peer Advisor internship as an undergraduate as well as Graduate Assistant positions in my graduate degree.
It was my position as a Psychology Peer Advisor that confirmed for me that being an Academic Advisor was my chosen path. I loved and still love working with undergraduate students, especially in Psychology, to figure out the connection between their undergraduate experience and what they want to do next—whether it’s planning for career or graduate/professional school. I am grateful that now I get to hire and supervise our current Peer Advisors and help them with their goals directly as well as serve as their role model.