Be Part of Research at UT Tyler You Say? Psychological Research!

Yes indeed students of The University of Texas at Tyler, if you ever wanted to be one of those cool test subjects you hear about in psychological studies, you can make it a reality here on campus! Our Psychology Department is a fantastic segment of campus that offers classes from Undergraduate all the way to Doctorates and minors in between!

I happen to be minoring in it myself. However, you don't have to be involved in the classroom in the Psychology department to participate in psychological surveys and occasionally even studies. When I was a Freshman, we had some basic classes where members from the school of psychology would pass out surveys and ask the class to fill them out. They aren't ever mandatory, so if brain studies and personal questions freak you out, no worries.

I chose to participate last year voluntarily in one of those surveys before I'd chosen to minor in the field, and based on my responses, I made a good candidate for a second level of testing that takes place in a lab here on campus. It's incredibly interesting, fun, and they will pay you for your time. (Quite well, I might add).

This semester I took my first Psychology class and I was required to participate in research for class credits as part of a grade (the alternative was a research essay). I did another survey for credit, and this time the Sass CPR Lab wanted me again for a different study and they wanted to study my brainwaves!! How cool is that?! So of course I agreed to participate. It was definitely something I felt was a once in a lifetime experience and I felt like I was helping groundbreaking research be done.

Here's a picture of me getting set up to do the study!

Another thing you can participate in, if you're interested in free counseling, is allowing psychology students practice their counseling skills on you. If you need serious help though, do consider visiting the Student Counseling Center, which is also free.

Homesick?

Lately I've been feeling a little homesick.
I'm from San Antonio which is 5-6 hours away from Tyler. I also don't have a car, so going there requires either catching a ride from someone going to Austin (because I know almost no one from San Antonio), or getting on a bus. However I manage to get there, it's not easy, so I don't get to go home very often. (Nothing near how bad Katrina had it though)

I also happen to have a VERY close family, so not a day goes by when I don't talk to my Mommy, or text my aunts and grandma. Being away from all of them is hard, but here is how I make it through

my lovely family visiting one weekend!

1. Call home when you miss it
Hearing your parent's voices is nice. Especially talking to your little siblings just to see how school is. It makes you feel like you're still at home.

2. Go socialize!
Do NOT lock yourself in your room. All you will do is think yourself into a sad hole.

going out with friends!

3. Go outside
Take a walk, ride a bike, go hang out by the dock. You always find something to do or run into someone interesting here on campus

walking around UT Tyler!

4. Let your friends know how you're feeling
Feeling homesick is normal. I'm sure they probably miss home too. Talking about how you feel helps out.

5. Talk to a counselor
When you feel like you can't talk to your friends, we have counselors available here on campus!

There's always ways to distract yourself when you're feeling down. Just remember that it never lasts for long and you always have someone to talk to!

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