My Experience With The Belin-Blank Center

I entered The University of Iowa a freshman a few credit hours of junior standing, and without a major. Due to an engrossment with the structure of government, particularly those of authoritative regimes, I threw myself vigorously into a Political Science Major, but found myself more appreciative of the citizens living in these regimes than the inner workings of governments. I am fascinated by humanity’s need for self-determinacy and how citizens in authoritative regimes function without this necessity. My interest in the human aspect was further developed by my experiences with the Belin-Blank Center, which I was introduced to as a student in the Iowa Talent Project. As an employee, I have worked three summers with the Belin-Blank summer …show more content…
I took twenty hours during the second semester of my junior year I took twenty-hours attempting to stay on track to graduate with my peers. Simultaneously, I volunteered seven hours a week with both the Crisis Center of Johnson County, and the with the Women’s Resource and Action Center. My GPA suffered. I am not the perfect student on paper, but I work hard and am driven. I wanted to be a research assistant with Dr. Kochanska’s child lab, but did not meet the GPA requirement of 3.5. I applied and explained what skills I could offer and the lab accepted my application. Currently I work nine hours a week as a research assistant, coding a longitudinal study revolving around mind-mindedness. I am flourishing alongside my fellow assistants despite not meeting all the lab requirements. I know I could thrive alongside other students in the Counseling Psychology PhD …show more content…
I want to be an active member of my community and continue my work with the Crisis Center of Johnson County and other outreach programs. As I explored different Counseling Psychology Programs, I found none of them met what I wanted better than the University of Iowa. No other mentor was better equipped to assist my goals than Dr. Foley Nicpon. Her research on twice-exceptionality and social skills aligns closely with my thoughts on self-determinacy. While other programs could equip me to do research or applied work, there has been no other program that addressed my need to integrate the two. At the University of Iowa, I know I would receive a well-rounded, solid education, whilst still being able to engage the community like I engage with my students at the Belin-Blank