At the 2022 CPA Convention we sold orange T-shirts designed by Indigenous artist Betty Albert. The proceeds from those sales were donated to the Legacy of Hope Foundation, an Indigenous-led charity educating Canadians about residential schools. We spoke to Legacy of Hope President Adam North Peigan about residential schools, the sixties scoop, and Legacy of Hope’s mission.
Maya Atlas and Kiana Chubey
“Something I’ve always wanted to be is an advice columnist, and I feel like if I wasn’t in psychology that’s something I would love to do.”
Maya Atlas might perhaps one day become an advice columnist. Once she graduates with her Ph.D. in psychology, she’ll have the credentials to become one. As an avid writer, she will also have the skills to make that column fascinating. As she says, “advice columns can sometimes be literature in themselves”. Until then, however, she is contenting herself with doling out the advice directly, as a mentor in the CPA’s Student Mentorship Program.
Maya is in the second year of her Ph.D. at Toronto Metropolitan University, studying post-traumatic growth in MDMA-assisted therapy for couples with PTSD. Her mentee is Kiana Chubey, who is in her fifth year at the University of Manitoba doing her honours thesis. Kiana is hoping to go into clinical psychology with an eye toward working with children, and is leaning on Maya when it comes to navigating the system and applying to graduate programs.
Kiana is a painter, but finds that her undergraduate studies can suck up a lot of time and keep her very busy! As Maya tries to carve out time to write during her Ph.D., Kiana finds she must make an effort to create time to work on art during her undergrad; This is one of the few similarities the two have.
What is the psychological concept (bystander apathy, confirmation bias, that sort of thing) that blew you away when you first heard it?
Kiana: “Learning about false memories is really fascinating. How we can actually implant false memories. We talked a lot in class about eyewitness testimony for example, how it isn’t really that accurate or the best way to solve a crime.”
Maya: “In my undergraduate years I took a class called the neuroscience of consciousness. Learning about different states, near-death experiences, and that kind of thing. It sparked something in me and in some way became tied to my current research interest, which is psychedelic-assisted therapy.”
You can listen to only one musical artist/group for the rest of your life. Who is it?
Kiana: “I really like Tom Petty. I like older music and he has a lot of good songs and I feel like his music is a little more special since he recently passed.”
Maya: “I’m totally cheating on this answer, I would pick a really great playlist. I think listening to one person forever would be horrible!”
Favourite book
Maya: “Wild, by Cheryl Strayed. It’s a memoir of her journey through grief and a lot of hardship in her life. She sets off on a hike by herself and finds her way and comes to acceptance with what’s happened so she can move forward.”
Kiana: “I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson. It’s a story about separated twins, and it’s also about grieving. It has a lot to do with the importance of family.”
Favourite quote
Kiana: “’You may say I’m a dreamer. But I’m not the only one. I hope some day you’ll join us, and the world will live as one.’ I think it’s a really nice quote about world peace.”
Maya: “Mine is from the movie Call Me By Your Name, and it’s “to feel nothing so as not to feel anything – what a waste”. I think it just speaks to experiencing everything in life and not shutting down.
If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes who would it be and why
Kiana: “I’d like to be an astronaut in space – it would be so cool to experience zero gravity, and to see Earth from space!”
Maya: “What about spending five minutes in different people throughout the day to get a variety of experiences? I think it would be interesting to get all these different perspectives. I would also go to outer space like Kiana. And underwater, as a deep-sea diver.”
Maya started out in journalism at Carleton University, switched to psychology, then went traveling for five years after completing her undergraduate degree. She did a ski season in Whistler, where she met some friends and accompanied them to Australia for a year. Then she came back to Canada to live in Banff for a year and a half. After that she moved to Vancouver where she did some creative writing courses. It was there that she realized she wanted to go to grad school for clinical psychology, and her travels took her to Toronto.
Kiana went into psychology straight out of high school in Winnipeg, staying close to home. She was passionate about art in high school but was advised to find a more lucrative career path, so she chose one where she would be able to help people, children in particular. She hopes to get into a graduate program at the University of Manitoba, so she doesn’t have to move.
Although their paths have been very different, their goals are similar and their connection is strong. Kiana has learned a lot from Maya and appreciates the advice, kindness, and mentorship she provides. Maya appreciates Kiana’s thirst for knowledge and her engagement in the mentorship process. So much so that she nominated Kiana for the CPA Student Section Mentee of the Year award. Says Maya,
“Kiana was very prepared for all our meetings, always had questions to ask, always guided where we were going. She’s really motivated, interested, and curious. We come from very different psychology backgrounds, but she was always really interested in learning, wanted to hear more, and she’s just a really curious, motivated student.”
That curious, motivated student is going places in psychology for sure – maybe not as many places as Maya has gone in her journeys around the globe, but she is certainly on an upward trajectory in the discipline. Perhaps one day the peripatetic writer and the homebody artist will collaborate as psychologists and colleagues – or Kiana will illustrate the book Maya writes. Or both! Either way, the future is very bright for these two intelligent, motivated young women.
Linnea Kalchos
“Hi, my name is Linnea, I’m a student at UBC. [Spiel about UBC]. I was a teacher, and I have a real passion for social justice and in particular feminism. My research is attempting to come at these things through that perspective. Everything you say is going to be confidential, and this research will be practical. The goal is to disseminate it once we’re done, and I will make sure you have access to it.”
This is what you would hear if you were a newcomer Canadian youth participating in a project with Linnea Kalchos, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia. Her project is looking at how newcomer youth experience school integration when arriving in Canada. How do schools support them, and what kind of supports do they need?
The preamble Linnea gives these youth is by design. It incorporates all Linnea has learned over the years about approaching research through a social justice lens. Make sure the people involved in the research are also involved in the benefits derived from it, and the whole process along the way. Ensure that their participation is as comfortable and low-risk as possible. And aim for the research to have a real impact on the lives of real people.
When we spoke, Linnea was a UBC Master’s student, and has defended her Master’s thesis in the interim. The incoming chair of the student section of the CPA, Linnea uses the words ‘social justice’ the way some others use the words ‘like’ or ‘um’. That passion for social justice is one she’s keen to bring to the student section in the coming year. The section in particular has always been a leader in this realm, with many past chairs making important strides in this direction. Under the previous chair Alejandra Botia, the section created an executive position called JEDI (the Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Executive), a position currently held by Emily Winter. Where Linnea takes it from here is still to be determined, but initial plans involve a shift to a social justice theme in the student newsletter. More broadly, she hopes the student section can invite more diversity both in experience and in research.
What is the psychological concept (bystander apathy, confirmation bias, that sort of thing) that blew you away when you first heard it?
Along the way in studying psychology, I really started get interested in somatisation – this idea that something psychosocial goes on in our minds and then our body manifests it in different ways. I feel like when I learned about it something really clicked with me, and in particular in my work with children. They don’t always have the language or the awareness to say ‘I have a stomach ache and it’s because of my anxiety’. They just have a tummy ache! I feel like our bodies do so many sophisticated things to protect us – including developing physical symptoms.
You can listen to only one musical artist/group for the rest of your life. Who is it?
It’s 100% Matchbox 20! This is definitely my dad’s influence. He’s a chef, and I have all these great memories of being in the kitchen with him watching him cook and listening to 3 AM in the early 2000s.
Favourite book
One I come back to a lot is a poetry compilation by Iain Thomas called I Wrote This For You. It’s an anthology of poems, but it also has photography infused throughout the book. It was such a beautiful book to me that I’m pretty sure I cried in the bookstore as I was reading it!
Favourite quote
“When they go low we go high” from Michelle Obama. It reminds me that if you’re living your life with integrity and as an example to other people you can’t really go wrong!
If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes who would it be and why
Michelle Obama again! I actually want to be in her brain (and her real shoes, literally – she’s a style icon!) Her advocacy work is so important, she’s done so many things in her career beyond being the First Lady. A decorated lawyer, a mother, an activist, writer, public speaker, public health advocate. I’d love to step into her shoes and try all those roles – and hang out with her family. I think she’s fabulous!
“There’s so much great work and research in this area being done by students, and we want to invite all those different perspectives. We also want to highlight different forms of research. Methodologies that aren’t as widely recognized in psychology but that are making an appearance now. Things like social justice research, community action research, all qualitative methods, Indigenous ways of knowing, that kind of thing.”
The other part of Linnea’s current project – the kids part – is her other passion. In a previous life Linnea was a teacher. While her interests shifted to the subject of mental health and psychology, her passion for working with young people has not abated. When all is said and done, she hopes to have a clinical practice where she works with children full time. The journey to psychology was somewhat circuitous, and is best explained by Linnea herself.
“I got really into social justice in high school. I went on a volunteer trip, got connected to social justice groups, became a vegetarian – you know, all the things. I had always wanted to go to the teacher education program at Queen’s University, and that’s where I did my undergrad. I found a way to work my degree so that I could major in Global Development Studies and still be a teacher while I got my B.Ed. While I was there, I got connected with a psychology research lab doing bullying research with Dr. Wendy Craig. That was one of the best experiences of my life. Working with Dr. Craig and with PREVNet taught me so much!
I finished my undergrad and moved to Australia, where I was a teacher for three years. After my first year there I thought that while I loved working with kids, I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a teacher forever. I had a real passion for mental health, students with special needs and school support programs. I knew I wanted to go to graduate school at that point and found the perfect marriage of all my interests – which was school psychology.”
Linnea always wanted to live in Vancouver, so the program she started at UBC ticked another box for her – albeit not immediately. She did her first year of school from Australia, stuck there because of COVID travel restrictions. Luckily, she was able to move for her second year of school, so now that she’s finished her Master’s it’s with a full year of Vancouver residence under her belt.
Now starting yet another new chapter in her schooling, Linnea is embracing the new challenges that will come with studying for a Ph.D., as well as the opportunities that present themselves as the Chair of the Student Section. In approaching this new role, Linnea is drawing inspiration from some psychologists who have been doing this work for years.
“The leadership of people like [CPA Past President] Dr. Ada Sinacore has been huge. People sharing who they are openly, infusing those things into their research, representation matters so much. A practice I’ve learned from my supervisor, Dr. Anusha Kassan, is ‘outlining our positionality’. It basically means acknowledging your position and your role (which often includes your privilege) in the research process itself.”
That research will continue, as Linnea embraces a new role and gets on to her Ph.D. work. And one day the spiel she gives her research participants, or the kids she’s counseling, will start a little differently. “Hi, my name is Linnea, and I’m a psychologist”.
Kayla Hollett and Liran Leidershnaider
“This email could have been a meeting.”
In a world where most meetings could be emails, and most phone calls could be texts, Kayla Hollett is old-school. A mentor in the CPA Student Section Mentorship program since 2018, Kayla’s first couple of mentorships were conducted solely via email and instant-messaging apps. It was how her mentees felt most comfortable, and how they preferred to communicate, but Kayla says she still doesn’t know what her first few mentees looked or sounded like. When she signed up to be a mentor once more in 2022, one of her conditions was explicit – her mentee would have to be comfortable using an online video platform.
Liran Leidershnaider was happy to do so. Since the beginning of the pandemic, most of us have become much more accustomed to Zoom and Skype, and it suited him just fine to interact in this way. The benefits have been noticeable. Says Kayla,
“We had bi-weekly meetings that were at least an hour where we had conversations with a lot of questions popping up all the time, and a lot of details to discuss. I also shared every single document and resource that I had with Liran and my other mentees on Google Docs so they had access to all of it. I couldn’t do that in the earlier years of the program, it was more a surface-level answer to a quick question here and there. I think our relationship on Zoom is more efficient, and going forward that’s the way to go. You know, you come in to a meeting with one question and that leads to five more. Every time Liran emails me I think ‘we could have a meeting about this’.”
Liran is just starting his fourth year of the Specialized Honours Bachelor of Science Psychology Program at York University. He grew up in a medical family, and from his childhood he was surrounded by discussions about psychology. This piqued his interest at an early age to understand why human beings behave the way they do. In high school, he took a human development course which reaffirmed his decision that psychology was the career path for him. His goal now is to one day work with patients as a clinical psychologist.
What is the psychological concept (bystander apathy, confirmation bias, that sort of thing) that blew you away when you first heard it?
Liran: “When I heard about the placebo effect in high school, I was fascinated! Just the way you can make someone think something without it being actually there, is really incredible. I remember watching Grey’s Anatomy at the time, and they had a clinical trial where they gave one group of participants a pill that actually had a function, and gave the other group of participants the placebo, and the placebo group of participants showed some improvement in the clinical symptoms of their disorder! It fascinates me that we can make our brain believe in anything we want, or even make our brain think in a way that makes us better. I think it kind of validates how important psychology is for our mental health and our daily lives in general.”
Kayla: “For me it was the Flynn effect. I was in class and we talked about it – it has to do with the fact that IQ scores are increasing in the general population over decades, from the beginning of IQ testing until now. I was so fascinated by it because I couldn’t figure out how. I went to my psychology prof’s office to ask him what he thought caused it – I was very curious, and the textbook didn’t have those details. It was my curiosity about the Flynn Effect that made me start to realize psychology may be my career path of choice.”
You can listen to only one musical artist/group for the rest of your life. Who is it?
Kayla: “As a female millennial, I think I have to say Taylor Swift. But it works because she’s amazing! Her most recent two albums Folklore and Evermore I can sing along to every word of every song.”
Liran: “It’s got to be Pink Floyd. My dad used to always play them in the car, and I used to play guitar so I’d ask him about this melody or that one. They still have some of the best guitar melodies.”
Do you have a sport? What is it and do you watch, play, follow it?
Liran: “Competitive swimming. I came to Winnipeg when I was six, and since then I’ve been swimming at a provincial level, mainly at the University of Manitoba. Then when I moved to Toronto in 2013 I started swimming competitively at the North York Aquatic Club. I’ve stopped because of COVID unfortunately.
Kayla: “I strength train in my spare time. Weightlifting at the gym!”
If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes who would it be and why?
Kayla: “I think anyone who is considered a highly successful person on a global scale. Not that I support everything they say or do, but someone like Elon Musk who runs a ton of businesses. I want to know how he manages his time! As a psychology trainee I also think it would be interesting to get inside his mind.”
Liran: “I want to be in my own shoes, but in 20-30 years time. I’m very curious as to where I’ll be in life, what I’ll be doing. Here I am now with my big aspirations and plans for the future – what will that look like in 20 years?”
If you could become an expert at something outside psychology, what would it be?
Liran: “A veterinarian. I love animals, and having two cats myself, I know how important pets are to their owners. Speaking from experience, pets have their own relaxing effect on humans, whether it’s them greeting you when you come home from somewhere, or just sitting beside you while you work. So, being able to treat animals is something that I know would have a positive impact on the pet’s owner too, and would in turn bring me joy as well.”
Kayla: “I think a physiotherapist. With strength training sometimes injury or pain comes with that. It would be so much easier if I could do physiotherapy on myself! It would also allow me to interact with people all day, which is something I gravitate towards.”
Kayla has the same career goal of working as a clinical psychologist. She is just starting the third year of her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Concordia University, having completed her Master’s in Experimental Psychology at Memorial University in her home province of Newfoundland. She became interested in the biology of the brain in high school, but didn’t yet know what psychology was. She started her academic career in biology so she could study the brain. A year in, she took a psychology course as an elective and realized that perhaps this was the path she should be taking. “I went to my psych professor and said, in a bit of a panic, that I thought I was in the wrong program. He said I should switch over, I did, and I started to learn about all the different career paths available through psychology. I realized I wanted to be a therapist, to do clinical work, and now I’m super glad I made the switch.”
Sometimes, deciding on a career path is the easy part. Navigating that career path comes with many more challenges. Kayla identified with this during her undergrad degree, when she started to look into grad school herself. She says she could really have used a mentor in the same field.
“I didn’t have a formal mentor, as such, but I did have a couple of graduate students in my lab who could answer questions. But there were a couple of gaps – they hadn’t necessarily applied to the same programs that interested me (clinical) so it would have been really handy to have known someone who had applied to clinical psychology Ph.D.s. I ended up kind of navigating it myself, working together with other applicants. I applied twice, in two cycles. The first cycle I was so overwhelmed that I was able to apply to only two programs. The process is a course in itself, and it was such a steep learning curve. You’re in the fourth year of your undergrad, you’re trying to do your honours thesis along with everything else. It’s pretty overwhelming. I like to think of that time as a practice cycle, which made it easier when I applied again two years later. I really needed that practice given how much goes into the application process.”
At that time the CPA Student Section Mentorship program was not yet in full swing. In the past few years, it has become an enormously useful program for the students who participate – in large part because of that overwhelming process of graduate school applications. Liran says that Kayla’s mentorship has helped him in many ways, and that the application process is one of the biggest.
“I was an incoming third-year student last year. I knew I wanted to apply to grad school, and becoming a clinical psychologist was my career aspiration. I came in pretty knowledgeable about how to get into graduate school, but still needed information about many important details regarding how to do everything right, and Kayla knows well that I had a lot of questions. Kayla was really approachable, made sure all my questions were answered, and was readily available when I needed her. I felt really comfortable asking all the little questions which might have seemed silly. Now I feel excellently prepared, and full of the knowledge I’ve obtained over the course of this past year.”
Liran’s progress has been such that Kayla nominated him for Mentee of the Year with the CPA Student Section. Not only academic success and professional competence, but his personal growth has been a source of great pride for Kayla.
“Any undergrad who wants mentorship is excellent for that reason alone. Liran is exceptional because of his incredible growth. I saw him start off at one place, and at the end I saw him almost as a new person. Even when I see him today, speaking so professionally and ably, I’m just proud! I’m seeing him grow into an academic in front of my eyes.”
Kayla, of course, could not have seen Liran grow in front of her eyes had they not interacted via video – which makes the connection that much more rewarding. They have both applied to the mentorship program once again this year, and they hope to be paired with one another once more. They have both grown to appreciate the interaction and breadth of discussion their meetings provide, and they look forward to maintaining their connection and partnership.
The future for both of these young students is bright – well-lit, with a clean background, crisp audio, and a good internet connection.
Stephanie Woolridge and Ava Homiar
“My favourite book is called House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. It’s like a part horror, part romance, part…academic? It’s a really interesting book with a fascinating page layout!”
Stephanie Woolridge is gesturing to the bookshelf behind her, situated dead centre in her Zoom screen and just visible on either side of her head. Ava Homiar chimes in, moving to one side so that her own bookshelf can be seen behind her head while she points toward it.
“I actually have that one on my bookshelf right now! The pages are just so interesting and it’s such a unique book!”
The system works! Much like online matchmaking sites that purport to connect people via shared interests (we both listen to music and eat food! We should date!) the CPA Student Section’s Mentorship Program endeavours to connect mentors and mentees based on common goals and experiences. Undergrad students looking to pursue a research career, for example, are paired with grad students on the same path. They can help with applications to grad school, academic advice, and sometimes a lot more!
Such is the case for Stephanie Woolridge and Ava Homiar, who were connected through the program in September of 2020 – and then again in 2021 – and just recently in 2022 as well! Steph is going into the fourth year of her PhD at Queen’s in clinical psychology, while Ava is in the third year of the honours life science program, specializing in psychology, at McMaster. They share much more than a plain-white-wall-with-a-bookshelf-in-the-centre Zoom background.
Interviewer: “If you could spend a day in someone else’s shoes who would it be and why?”
Stephanie: “Anyone who goes to the International Space Station, like an astronaut. So few people get to do that and it would be so cool to be able to go up there for a day, say ‘this was dope’ then get back to my regular life.”
Ava: “Oh my gosh I was going to say astronaut too! I guess now I have to give a different answer. But astronaut would just be so fun!”
What is the psychological concept (bystander apathy, confirmation bias, that sort of thing) that blew you away when you first heard it?
Ava: “I first learned about false memory creation in my forensic psychology course. It really blew my mind – I’d heard of false memories before, but just seeing the psychology behind it and how it translates into real life events is really interesting to me.”
Stephanie: “One of the things that really stands out to me is social baseline theory. It’s mostly about how social relationships are associated with improved well-being, which we all know. But there were studies done that show that when human beings are under threat, the emotion regulation parts of our brains are less active when you’re holding hands with another person. So if we’re in a threatening situation, we have to put in a lot less emotional effort when that person is next to us. Our brains have to work a whole lot harder when you’re alone.”
You can listen to only one musical artist/group for the rest of your life. Who is it?
Ava: “BTS. They have such a large and diverse discography that I don’t think I could ever get tired of listening to them. And they’re also amazing people so I feel good listening to them.”
Stephanie: “This is really hard! Right now the band I’m listening to the most is Rainbow Kitten Surprise. [Editor’s note – imagine what you think a band called ‘Rainbow Kitten Surprise’ would sound like. It does not sound like that.] They’re in constant competition with another artist called Radical Face, which I also adore…I’m kind of cheating by picking the two that are always battling it out for my top spot. All their albums are bangers, the music is always so good, I could listen to it on repeat forever!”
Do you have a sport? What is it and do you watch, play, follow it?
Ava: “I used to play tennis when I was younger, but I don’t any more – I am currently without a sport! I do always love watching figure skating, especially when the Olympics comes on. The artistry of the skaters is astonishing!”
Stephanie: “I played soccer competitively for many years, but I tore my quad so I stopped playing. I still run, but I love watching soccer on TV. Even if it’s ninety minutes with one goal, I’m happy!”
Favourite quote
Ava: “It’s from the Herman Hesse book Siddhartha, ‘I can think I can wait I can fast’. It’s a coming-of-age book that explores the value of being resilient, and that quote encapsulates the theme.”
Stephanie: “It’s from a book by Glennon Doyle, ‘if you can’t beat fear, do it scared’. I think it was popularized because Will Smith said it at some point – but I’ve always loved the quote and I feel like mental-health-wise it ties into a lot of the work I do.”
If you could become an expert at something outside psychology, what would it be?
Ava: “I would love to be totally immersed in the field of philosophy, and dedicate all my time to being involved in modern philosophical discussion and have the bandwidth and education to be able do that. I think I’d also love to be an expert in art history too – something like the history of religious art.
Stephanie: “I feel like in another life I was a classicist in some way. In first year I studied archaeology and ancient Greece and ancient Rome, and I think that would have been such a cool career path to be curating a museum or something. All the history and the culture from back in the day, I’ve always loved that.”
They are both first-generation university students, the first people in their respective families to take a scientific path. For Steph, that made things pretty difficult during her undergraduate studies, as she didn’t have family she could turn to for advice related to research or graduate studies. For Ava, things are a little bit easier because she does have one person to provide that guidance – Steph.
Both Ava and Steph started university without planning to major in psychology. Steph thought it would be a good jumping off point for other career paths, like medicine or law. Ava was taking more hard science classes, at the urging of her parents. Both ended up pursuing psychology as a career path thanks to a love for lab work and social research, and as of their second or third years their paths were set. Steph’s research at Queen’s is predominantly in early psychosis, with an emphasis on things like social cognition, interpersonal relationships, intimacy and sexuality. At McMaster, Ava is doing research involving the Schizophrenia & Community Integration Services program at St. Joseph’s hospital.
For a long time during her undergraduate studies Ava was searching for mentors who could help her navigate the post-secondary system, but was having a tough time finding anyone who could provide the specific kind of assistance she was seeking. During that time, 300 km away, Steph was mentoring people in a number of different ways. She says,
“I’ve always taken on mentorship roles throughout my degree. I’ve been a mentor for undergraduate students here at Queen’s, and I’m still a mentor for graduate students in my department. It’s something I’ve always really enjoyed. I’ve felt very privileged to have had access to mentors who have supported me throughout my career, so the opportunity to do that for someone else or to pay it forward a little bit was a great one since I know how valuable it is.”
When an email came to Steph’s inbox advertising the CPA’s Student Mentorship program, she jumped at the chance right away, knowing how valuable her insight could be for someone starting out on the same path she once took. Meanwhile, Ava was searching everywhere for a mentor who could help her. Google led her to the CPA, where she became a Student Affiliate. From there, she found the mentorship program – and Steph. Says Ava,
“When you sign up for the mentorship program, they ask you about your interests and what you’re thinking about doing in your future. You then get matched with someone who’s close to your area of interest – and I think they were really spot-on with our match! Steph and I are in the same field, have lots of stuff to talk about, and she’s provided me with great support where I’m able to talk to her related to academics and the career field I want to be in. Having that extra guidance has really affected my academic and career choices as well. I think everyone knows about mentors who can help you with school and career and grad school applications, but in Steph I’ve found a mentor who’s a friend. We talk about our personal lives, and with everything that’s going on around us that’s been really helpful for me too!”
The mentor-mentee relationship has benefits for both parties. It isn’t always an older student providing a road map for a younger one. Very often, the graduate student gets just as much out of the partnership. Steph says this is certainly the case for her.
“Over the past two years it’s just been such a privilege to hear about all the stuff Ava’s been doing, to see all she’s accomplished, and to be a part of all the conversations we’ve had. In second year, applying for her first positions, to where we are now thinking about grad school – it has really been a honour for me to be able to bear witness to Ava’s growth and accomplishments. I’m excited to see what she does next!”
Steph is a little closer than Ava to entering the workforce and putting all her knowledge to use, but both have a pretty similar career path in mind – no matter where they end up, they both want it to be somewhere where they get to do research. Lots and lots of research. So look for them to be featured together again in the future – as co-authors on a paper, as colleagues and collaborators, and, one presumes, as lifelong friends.
The CPA is pleased to present three videos from early 2022 discussing career paths in Psychology, collectively referred to as the Pathways series. These videos are a fast-paced and informative exploration of a range of perspectives from a number of experienced panelists discussing graduate studies and career paths for students undertaking or planning future graduate work in Psychology.
Vulvodynia expert Dr. Caroline Pukall rejoins the CPA podcast Mind Full for a special episode on Provoked Vestibulodynia and a major study happening in Sweden.
