Lindsay Baerg '21
Senior Lindsay Baerg has spent the past few years engaging in opportunities related to psychology in and outside of the classroom. Lindsay will be starting graduate school at Vanderbilt University. She is planning a future career in the nonprofit sector as well as in higher education advising. She writes:
“Across my psych degree and the wide variety of classes I was able to take, I learned to think critically about different psychological themes and pushed me to explore my interests outside of the classroom.
An experience that cultivated my passion for further exploration in the field of psychology was joining a Social Psychology Lab as a research assistant with Dr. Katy Bruchmann. In my time in the lab, I have worked on several projects in many different roles, but most notably, I was a primary researcher on a project about the role that construal level theory and the local dominance effect play in appearance comparisons among female undergraduates. I presented this work at the annual meeting of the Western Psychological Association and am a co-author of our submitted manuscript. This year, I have been working on my own senior thesis project focusing on the intolerance of uncertainty and how it affects health anxiety and fear of COVID-19 when searching for COVID-19 information on the internet. I was awarded the REAL summer fellowship last year to work on this project. My time working as a research assistant in the lab has allowed me to cultivate leadership, communication, professionalism, public speaking, and many other practical skills.
In addition to my experiences in the classroom or laboratory, I have also sought out other experiences within the field of psychology. In April of 2020, I trained as a Crisis Counselor with Crisis Text Line, am a Peer Advisor in the psychology department, and have recently started an internship with Challenge Success, a non-profit organization that transforms the student experience by allowing students to define what success means on their own terms.
My experience at Santa Clara University has not only fostered my curiosity for knowledge but also has allowed me to investigate my specific interests in psychopathology. Through various classes, as well as opportunities within and outside of the department, I have deepened my passions for mental health, education, and impacting others in a positive way.”