Wow, it's been even longer than I thought since I last wrote. My last entry was after the first semester and before the second even started. That seems to foreshadow how bustling this semester was!!!
I am currently enrolled full-time at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington in the Psychology Master's degree program. My concentration, General, is mostly meant to prepare students for research careers and/or to enroll in Ph.D. programs. I resisted this option (e.g. first earning a Master's degree then going to Ph.D., rather than straight to Ph.D.), but I can say now that I am really glad I ended up on this path. I was very stubborn about NOT doing a Master's first, but as it appears to be the best (and sometimes only) option for Ph.D. preparation, I am definitely starting to feel more ready.
This semester I joined another lab to gain more cognitive research experience. I am broadly interested in the rehabilitation and recovery of schizophrenia. I would love to become involved in a treatment-based research lab (such as development of a targeted social skills training program). I am also interested in involvement with a cognitive lab that either investigates cognitive deficits in schizophrenia, or develops cognitive remediation programs.
I am currently in what is called the Mental Illness & Recovery Lab. My project is working with the local Mental Health Court program. My thesis (pending prospectus approval) will be looking at the contributing factors of re-offending in these participants (namely criminal thinking and empathy). Mental health courts are diversion programs for individuals with mental illness involved in the justice system. Our research will help inform targeted treatments to reduce re-offense (for example, CBT programs targeted to reduce criminal thinking, which are available and have been tested mostly with incarcerated offenders).
The other lab I joined, the ACT (the Aging & Cognitive Training) Lab. This semester, I worked with the lab coordinators to develop a project that will evaluate the relationship between source memory and empathy. These two cognitive processes are impaired in schizophrenia. Although we will not be testing individuals with schizophrenia, establishing a relationship in psychiatrically healthy individuals may be useful to guide future research with individuals with schizophrenia. I worked on lots of literature review and started a write-up for this project. Hopefully data collection will follow in the fall semester.
Working in two labs definitely filled the extra time in my schedule I was concerned about having. I also was offered 5 extra TA hours working with the learning center to mentor students on academic probation. This was a very useful experience (minus the negative, which was a very high dropout rate) and I felt like I helped students either improve their academics or just figure out their life!
I really enjoyed the two classes I took this semester. First, Cognitive Psychology. I always LOVE cognitive classes. I find cognition to be so fascinating. I learned a lot of interesting new things about cognition, but by-far, my favorite part of the class was writing the paper. We basically could write about whatever we wanted, as long as it related directly to cognitive psychology. I started off broad, but then decided to write about Mindfulness Yoga for Schizophrenia. Surprisingly, mindfulness and/or yoga has been used for schizophrenia, mostly to reduce stress & anxiety. I focused my writing on the potential cognitive benefits of mindfulness yoga for schizophrenia. Mindfulness and/or yoga uses many focused attention practices, thus may be a candidate training program for schizophrenia. And, importantly, it is a recovery-oriented treatment, meaning it increases self-awareness and improves quality of life.
Second, Research Methods. We basically learned to critique research articles throughout the class. I really needed this. I now read literature much more critically than I did before. I am glad I completed this class before submitting my undergraduate research anywhere for publication (fingers crossed). After this year, I realize that I probably was not really ready for doctoral-level training. I feel that after masters-level training is complete, it will be a much smoother transition to doctoral work.
So, this summer will consist of GRE prep (will take likely early August), publication prep (my unpublished undergraduate honors research), and thesis writing. I originally was considering getting a job to avoid dipping into the loans even more, but I think I will have plenty to do without one. I was feeling very stressed at the end of the semester, and I few months off will be nice. Oh, and fun things for me to do (!): lots of running/working out, 5Ks, beach days, exploring Wilmington/NC cities, and gourmet eating. Aaaahhh, so glad summer is here.....
