Elaine Currie

            This was my first quarter at the UW, having just transferred from NYU. I moved in on the first of January, so since the very first day of 2018 my whole life has been completely different than it has been for the past year and a half. I am on the entire opposite side of the country now (from coast to coast), and it’s definitely for the better. Since moving to Seattle I have become an entirely different person than I was at NYU. I get up excited to go to classes every day, I participate more in sorority events, and I have been trying tons of new activities. As I write this I am on my way to Denver to go skiing with my friend Natalie, an activity which I will probably not be good at and have been scared of for most of my life. Suddenly though, after moving to Seattle, I have the urge to do lots of activities that I was previously scared to do. I am hoping that at the end of this summer I will be able to complete a course on scuba certification so that I can check that off the list, too.

            One thing that hasn’t changed is my interest in psychology. This quarter I took biopsychology (psych 202) with Professor Graham, and it was just the best. I have spoken to her about being an undergrad TA in the fall, and I’m really, really hoping it works out, because I love the material and I’d love to interact with the coursework in a more meaningful way than just cramming it into my brain for one quarter. Although I have struggled with biopsychology courses I took at NYU, this quarter really changed my mind. I have a totally new appreciation for its significance, and also greater confidence in my own ability to understand the content.

            I also took honors 211 this quarter (emotions across cultures) with Professor Dziwirek. This course wasn’t really what I expected, but it was a pleasant surprise. I had never really considered how many different ways people expressed emotions, and how even though some emotional expressions are so subtle they can be hugely important within a culture. I was also challenged to come up with ways that people did not express emotion, and what that says about the cultural values. For example, cultures like that of the U.S. devalue expressing negative emotions, and instead promote positive expressions, even when that does not reflect your true inner state. This was something I had never really stopped to consider, but once it was brought to my attention I noticed myself doing it all the time. This course challenged me to consider many different aspects of emotion and its intersection with culture, and really stretched my thinking. 

            I spent this quarter (and will also spend next quarter) working 9 hours a week as a research assistant for the Social Cognitive Development Lab, run by Dr. Kristina Olsen. The research at the SCD lab is groundbreaking, and I am so lucky to be a part of it. I work with the TransYouth Project, which is a longitudinal study of gender expression and identity in both gender conforming and gender non-conforming youth. Although the project is still in its early stages, I can already see the positive impact it is having. There is very little research available currently about what gender development typically looks like in a gender non-conforming child, and this is information that parents of GNC youth are craving. Just like any parent, they want the best for their children, and this study is helping create resources for these parents.

            Finally, I have spent the last few months applying for psychology internships for the upcoming summer. Although I have not received any offers yet, there is still some time, so we’ll just wait and see what happens!