Tops: University of Michigan (Part 2: Junior Year)
Welcome to the second part of Tops!
Read the first part here.
Part 3 is here!
"I recently graduated from the University of Michigan (#GoBlue) and this post series is about the things that I participated in throughout these last 4 years. I will also highlight some classes I took as well. I can say that I got something from every class that I took, but these stood out to me in a special way. If there is a link to the program/class, I will provide one."
Junior
SIBS
This is the same program that I mentioned in the first half of Tops, but this time I served as a mentor. I was paired with a sophomore that transferred to the University of Michigan. She was interested in a different career field and her older sister went to Michigan, so I am not sure how helpful I was, but I tried my best by providing her resources on campus for her social and academic goals. Shout out to my girl Cassandra!
My first HIV Monologues
I joined National Council of Negro Women (one of the greatest organizations on campus) because I wanted to learn more about my identity as a woman and because I knew Micah (my Big SIB) was a member of it. When I joined NCNW, I became a eboard member and served as as the Programming Chair. Damaris and I applied together and she became Fundraising chair. I went to eboard meetings and events, help plan/ execute events and campaigns, and met some great people along the way. The girls were very supportive and when we got together, it was a fun time.
If you are interested in learning about the history of the organization, click here.
They have chapters all of the country at different colleges and in different cities. I am bummed that my next city doesn’t have a chapter, but I may go to the next closest one to see what non-college chapter meetings are like.
If you are interested in joining the chapter at the University of Michigan, check out our website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
You can be a regular member or try to be a eboard member when they are taking applications.
W. M. Trotter Multicultural Center
After I started feeling unappreciated at my job, I applied to other University jobs that had a title of Manager. I did this because I felt Telefund was stopping me from moving up to the Managerial position, but they were promoting people that I trained. That is how I came upon Trotter. Trotter, the Union, and the League were all hiring building managers, and they paid more than Telefund managers. I had an interview with Trotter and when she asked why I was applying for new jobs, I told her how I felt at Telefund. I tend to be honest in my interviews and it hasn’t failed me yet. I got the job and instant began to fall in love with the section of the University that gets put on the back burner. My supervisors were amazing and my coworkers become friends. Trotter has become a pivotal place for me. I have experienced a lot of change in that building. I’ve cried, made plans, executed events, and watch other people grow at 1443 Washtenaw Ave.
Trotter is a place where orgs, departments, and community members can come to host events. It has a rich history of being a Black house, but now serves as a place where people can come and explore other cultures and celebrate their own. There will be a new Trotter soon, and many things will change, but if you get a chance, you should stop by Trotter, new or old, and fall in love with the staff, atmosphere, and a place where you can make yourself feel at home. There is a prayer space, a place to study, and many events happening in Trotter. Events where you can eat, listen to music, hear poetry, dance, create art, exercise, meditate, and anything else you can imagine. Here is a link to their Facebook page.
Research
As a Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience major, I had to do research. I decided to email a few people to see if they would let me join their lab for independent research credit instead of taking one of those classes about research. That is when I met the wonderful Francheska and Rosie. Francheska is a grad student in the Resilience in Context Lab and Rosie is the PI. They have had a huge influence on my academic/research life and I am so grateful for them. If you need a lab to work in, I would highly suggest this one. I worked in it for 2 years and I learned so much.
The summer after Junior year I also worked in 2 other labs. By the time the summer came, I knew I wanted to apply to PhD programs, so I tried to get as much research experience as possible.
I worked in Dr. Rona Carter’s Adolescent Interpersonal Relationship Lab. I took a class with Dr. Carter in the winter term and I noticed she was hiring for the summer so I spoke to her about it in person and got the job (check the connect finesse). Check out her lab here:
I also worked in Dr. L. Monique Ward’s lab. I was in her class as well and asked her if I could do independent research with her. It worked out well and she gave me tasks that I could do remotely. Dr. Ward is also a very sweet and supportive person.
Working in these 3 labs contributed to my success at grad school applications and made me hungry for more.
When I tell you I had a BUSY summer, I mean it. I worked in 3 labs, worked at Trotter, took classes, went abroad for 6 weeks, AND visited Chicago. I am tired just reflecting on this summer.
I spoke about my study abroad experience in a previous post.
Click here to read it:
Abroad-Phobia: No Time, No Money, and Know Nobody
Abroad-Phobia: Too Much Distance, Too Much Culture Shock, and Too Different from my Cohort
In short, I went to Barcelona, Spain to study Art History and it was amazing. I got to learn and see in person the work of Miro, Picasso, and Dali. I also go to see where they hung out and how they influenced the culture and fit into the history of Spain and the world. It was phenomenal. Thank you Tanya and Francheska for pushing me to do study abroad.
*AAS 254: History and Evolution of Hip Hop
This class was a fun topic and it showed the history of African Americans in general as well. I learned a lot and would recommend the class, but it fills up fast. See a Prezi I made to teach my class how to beatbox here.
*Psych 356: Educational Psychology
This class was also bomb and Eric Fretz is a great teacher as well. I learned so much about education/psychology and this class made me take another education class and also apply to an Education/Psych PhD program.
*Psych 250: Intro Dev Psych
This is the class that I took with Dr. Ward and it ended up being the subject I want to study for graduate school. It was an easy introduction course, but Dr. Ward is a great professor and mentor if you get a chance to talk to her one on one.
*Psych 325: Pract Multicultural Empowering Family & Community/ Detroit Initiative/ EPIC Program
This is the class I took with Dr. Carter.
I went to a community that has a similar socioeconomic background to myself, but has a different ethnic background. I also do research with a nearby school so being from a different race/ethnicity did not scare me, but it did make me aware of the things I said and did. For this class, we (my group) went to a school once a week, taught lessons on college readiness (resume building, applying to scholarships, etc.) and tutor. We also had to listen and find an issue and find a way to help the students and empower them. While talking to the students, my group found that each one was dealing with home/ school stress. While we do not have power to fix stressful situations for them, we did teach them coping skills in hope that it would help them get through it. Many of the kids already have coping skills, like drawing, listening to music, and playing soccer. We helped them identify that they are coping skills and told them about other coping skills. Some skills are positive, some are negative, and some help fix the issue of stress. We did not focus on negative skills. We talked to them about mediation, journaling, problem solving, seeking help, relaxing, exercising, and many other coping mechanisms. This project helped me figure out how to navigate a community that is not mine and find ways to make sure the community is telling their story and initiating change if they want the change. We were there to just supply them with ideas and help to fix a problem they self-identified. The project also helped me think of ways to evaluate change. Through this class we learned about community psychology and orienting concepts and guiding principles such as resilience, coping and stress, and strengths based approach, which is what we focused on to create our project.
See a Prezi about it here.
*RCHUMS: Empowering Community/ Telling It
This class was another class where I went into a community. This time I went to Ypsilanti. I took this class with Damaris and we worked with 7-11 year old kids. We hosted workshops once a week that had a theme and it helped promote creativity and literacy. There was a social worker there because personal things would come up with the kids and they needed to be handled properly. At the end of the class we had to make a fundraising project for something that could benefit our site. Damaris and I made one for publishing a book made by the kids. This class was really great and I would recommend it to everyone. The kids were so sweet, I looked forward to the class every week, and it was great taking it with a friend.
Here is another link to Telling It.
*Ling 370: Lang and Discrimination
I took this class over the summer and I loved it. It was taught by a graduate student and she let us really explore the topics we were interested in for our final project.
Through this class, I learned how the way people speak can shape their lives, especially in the United States. We talked about how people are discriminated against based on their voice, such as when they call a housing complex to learn about places to live. This causes people to practice a “white voice” in order to survive. This discrimination is based on the words they use, their accent, and the tones in their voices. People also put on a “white voice” when talking to potential employers or people over the phone that have power to influence their lives. The way people speak also influence how certain systems functions. For example, in the Trayvon Martin case, Rachel Jeantel, the key witness, was not taken into consideration by the jury because they claimed they couldn’t understand the way she spoke. Also court scribes may mistype what is said in a case because of the speakers accent. Some accents are given a court scribe/ translator so the jury can read what they said, but other accents are not treated in the same way. Even using the term Standard American English creates a divide between people, especially in education and professional sectors. I learned the importance of being patient when speaking to people that have a different way of talking. Learning this context also helped me have a deeper understanding of the way certain groups of people are faced with challenges because they are not “of the norm.” I apply this at my job already. We often have visitors of different ethnicities and being patient and asking for clarification when you do not understand them is better than assuming what they said or assuming they are not smart just because I have a hard time understanding them, which is what other people often do.
See a Prezi about it here.
I also dissected a sheep's brain (but I didn't really like the class overall)
That concludes the second part of my top programs/classes. Senior year is another long one so that is why I had to make junior and senior year their own post.
Have you participated in any of these programs/classes? What were your thoughts on them? Any departments or programs during your first junior year of college help you? Write a comment below!