A View from the CASL: Psychology Reflection

I’m Najat Nahshal, and I am honored to be voted by UM-D faculty as one of the top 10 psychology students of 2014-2015. I just want to say that throughout my undergraduate career at UM-D, the CASL building really was my second home. I basically lived there on a daily basis. From the hangouts with friends in the CASL atrium between classes, to running participants in psych labs on the fourth floor, to the last minute study session in the Language lab before exams, CASL really was my favorite building on campus.

I was a psychology major, with a minor in Arabic studies, and I have to say that I had the best professors in the whole wide world. I was (and still am) a research assistant for Dr. Clark-Foos for over a year now. I must say that Dr. Arlo pushed me, and the rest of the lab, outside our comfort zone because he really believed in our potential. I will never forget my oral presentation at the CASL undergraduate research showcase. I would have never imagined having the guts to speak in front of an audience about my findings, if it wasn’t for Dr. Clark-Foos’ belief in me as a researcher to do both an oral presentation for one project, and a poster presentation for the other. Dr. Clark-Foos continued his mentoring as I went on to present at the MPA conference in Chicago, as well as the Meeting of Minds conference.

Additionally, I was a research assistant for Dr. Siefert, who also believed in me so much that he allowed me to present my research at both the CASL showcase and the Meeting of Minds conference, even though I had just started working in his lab a few short months ago. Dr. Siefert was also my advisor for psych club, and as President of Psych club, I collaborated with Dr. Siefert and with hard work and dedication from him and the rest of the psych club members, we were able to put together a memorable Mental Health Week: Suicide Awareness campaign on campus this year!

I also want to shout out my Arabic Studies Professor, Dr. Dika, who believed in me a great deal throughout my Arabic courses, and made me feel accomplished even when I was struggling to understand the foreign material. His constructive criticism and feedback made me push myself to study that much harder and prove to him that I was taking his advice and doing everything I can to improve!

Also, the feedback I received from my other Professors, such as Dr. Sethuraman, who taught me Psychology of the life-span course, and Dr. McAuslan who taught me Social Psychology, really helped me reach my maximum potential as a student. I remember randomly stopping by Dr. Sethuraman’s office and just talking to her about my grad school goals and dreams. Her advice to me was to never throw out my psychology textbooks, but instead, save them and use them as a personal library that I could reference throughout my career. I also remember Dr. McAuslan stopping me after the final exam in her course, and telling me that she recommended me to become an SI Leader, not knowing that I had been an SI leader for about a year (Professor Roundtree, I hope I made you proud!!)

Lastly, shout out to Dr. Swift, who taught me Experimental Psychology. That was by far the hardest course of my undergraduate career. At times, I felt like Dr. Swift had mistaken us for upper-level graduate students because of the complexity of the material he was teaching (sorry to put you on blast Dr. Swift). However, I used this adversity as motivation to study even harder for his course. Going into his class, I had a perfect psychology GPA of a 4.0 (and a cumulative GPA of a 3.9), and I wanted to do everything I could to maintain my straight A’s. I remember being so nervous about my grade towards the end of the semester, that I asked him “Dr. Swift, do you EVEN give out A’s? Or is there no such thing?” and I remember him laughing at me and assuring me that he does in fact give out A’s to those who earn them. Thankfully with (extremely) hard work and dedication, I survived his class with an A, and my perfect psychology GPA survived as well.

I honestly cannot express in words how my undergraduate career as a CASL student shaped the person I am today. I only shared a fraction of my experience at CASL, but let it be known that there were so many more memorable moments that I will never forget. Although the bulk of my piece focused on my relationship with the best faculty in the world, I just want to shout out all of the students, my classmates, my friends, who made my undergraduate career worthwhile. I met students from different countries, cultures, and backgrounds; I heard their stories, and although on the surface we seemed so different, in reality we were so much alike. I met some of my best friends in CASL, and I know that our friendship will remain even after we part ways and continue on in our respective career paths.

Going back in Time at le Château de Versailles

It was not too long ago when I was able to see the fireworks exploding. Fireworks have always had their own beauty with a vast range of colors from red, blue, green, purple, and orange. On top of the fireworks, there was a fire show happening at the same time as the fireworks with French music playing in the background to match the mood. Being here, you felt warm and there was a sense of you going back in time around the early 1700’s. I was able to see the fountains running at night, which were also illuminated with deep violets, red, and a dull orange color.

I saw a statue surrounded by smoke and lasers. They had smoke covering the ground making it more magical. It was stunning to see not only le château de Versailles lit up at night but also to see the fountains and fireworks. This is something you do not get to see everyday, even in France. I made a French friend who used to be a tour guide at le château de Versailles. He explained, to our small group, the story behind all of the fountains and the process of building le château de Versailles. After that night, I never understood why we do not appreciate history as much as the French do. Historically, everything that we are and everything that we have is because of our history. It is a shame that we do not value those who take the time out to learn about the history of not only our country but the history of others. History seems to be ingrained in every class that I have at the University. Although I may be learning about French literature in the 20th century, grammar, and speech there is always a history lesson for the way things used to be and how the are today. In my opinion, I feel like this has helped me remember all of the information better because it is like a small glimpse back in time.