Please describe your path from SUNY Brockport to your current position.
During my time at SUNY Brockport, I explored the various aspects of psychology and considered the many diverse fields that psychology touches. After I completed my Bachelor’s degree at SUNY Brockport, I chose to continue my education at SUNY Brockport to attain my master’s degree. The master’s program for psychology provided the opportunity to apply and advance the skills I had learned to be able to begin my career at the Veteran’s Crisis Line. I worked initially as a responder, Social Science Specialist, answering calls from veterans in crisis. I used the in-depth and applicable skills and knowledge I attained from my courses at SUNY Brockport while listening to and supporting veterans in need. I was proficient in the basic skills needed. I transitioned into a role with Quality Assurance, where I listened to other responders supporting veterans in need and coaching them to hone their skills. From there, I was promoted to Crisis Operations Supervisor, where I continue to help and support the responders on the front line.
What was the most valuable lesson you learned while at SUNY Brockport?
While at SUNY Brockport, the most valuable lesson that I have learned was that learning a broad range of the different aspects, skills, or interests of a topic makes it much easier to transfer those learned skills to various parts of my professional and personal life and then to specialize or hone those skills for each role I take on. There are many disciplines within the field of psychology, and many parts of each discipline overlap and become the foundation on which I built my skills. The information that did not overlap expanded the boundaries of my knowledge, which later lent to my ability to apply what I’ve learned to my career, generalize those skills to additional, more challenging aspects of my job and my personal life, and then push the boundaries and add to my already existing knowledge base. For example, the fundamentals I learned from studying psychology at SUNY Brockport were used as a responder answering calls on the crisis line and coaching while working in quality assurance. It is now the foundation I use while leading and supporting staff as a supervisor and mentoring, coaching, and helping my children.
What is your favorite memory from your time at SUNY Brockport?
My favorite memory while at SUNY Brockport was the opportunity to work in Dr. Margolin’s lab, run an actual study, and evaluate the data. This experience helped me put everything I learned into practical working knowledge. It was the feeling of all the pieces falling into place and everything making sense.
What advice would you give to current SUNY Brockport students? Any special advice for our psychology majors?
Brockport is full of opportunities if you are willing to explore. The staff and faculty take pride in supporting the students. I recommend taking advantage of all the campus events to get to know the various programs and opportunities you can participate in. For the psychology majors, I recommend joining one of the research labs run by the professors in the psychology department. This is a real hands-on experience that helps you understand research fundamentals, from how it works to the benefits. The job fairs were great places to learn what was out there for careers, coaches who offered helpful information for preparing for the workforce, and resume help.
What learned skills and/or experiences from your time at SUNY Brockport were the most transferable or useful in your current position?
Critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, time management, and organization were the most valuable skills I learned and honed at SUNY Brockport.
Grasping the concepts of critical thinking at SUNY Brockport initially through doing research, analyzing the evidence, and coming to a conclusion prepared me to be able to sort through useful and nonessential details as I listened to someone in crisis and helped me to come up with a more extensive picture understanding of what led up to the situation and what support I can provide. Later, when I was promoted to my current role as a supervisor, this skill allows me to support responders at the crisis line and leads to more impactful decisions or ideas for problem-solving.
Problem-solving is needed throughout life. We are faced with problems and difficulties throughout life. To navigate them, we must know that the problem exists, so we learn to define it and then evaluate it to develop and implement a strategy to achieve our desired goal. I learned to reflect on my thoughts, understand my thought process, and take active control of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of my thoughts, which in turn helps me to develop many strategies to solve the problems I face and make effective strategies or decisions. This can be seen in my current career, where the use of open-ended questions helped me identify the Veteran’s crisis and what has helped and has not helped. Through analysis, I can assist that Veteran by identifying solutions or offering ideas they may have yet to consider and helping them through the crisis. This same skill is utilized as a supervisor to allow responders to navigate practical problem-solving skills.
In my role as a supervisor, I have to effectively communicate with others to support the responders and pass vital information onto the leadership in command above me. This information needs to be concise, accurate, and timely. Brockport helped me develop this skill as you are exposed to many people from various backgrounds and abilities.
And finally, time management and organization. These are skills that are necessary to be successful as a leader. The professors in the psychology department were crucial in honing these skills. They offered detailed expectations, helped me with realistic goals, and taught me practical and effective ways to get the most out of studying. These skills have helped me to stay on top of the demands and expectations of the job, develop my personal goals, identify good habits to keep my calendar organized, know my limits, and complete all my duties with detail and on time.
Please describe any challenge/obstacle you faced while at or since leaving SUNY Brockport and how you overcame/dealt with it.
While attending SUNY Brockport, I had to manage working full time and being a wife and mom full time. That often meant my personal mental health suffered. Brockport offered many reminders to pause and do some self-care to keep up the pace. Sometimes, I had to step back and ask myself if there was too much on my plate and how to balance this. The most memorable experience came when I suffered from an injury at work, causing a concussion that affected my working memory, my perception of sounds, my visual sensitivity to light, and I lost a lot of memory. All at a time when Covid hit, we were all doing remote learning, and I was working on my thesis. Imagine losing vital information surrounding the theoretical basis of your own research. I had difficulty looking at a computer screen and had to reeducate myself on my research. And for the change in perception of sounds, what I experienced then was when two noises happened simultaneously, I could not attend to and focus on one over another, a skill that is done naturally for most people. Imagine being in a noisy restaurant with others talking, the sound of the register, the doors opening, and you are trying to listen to the person in front of you. Most people can filter out or minimize the noise around them, but I could not. I heard it all simultaneously, and there was no way to filter it out. Dr. Margolin can teach more about this in her Sensation and Perception class.
I cannot express my thanks to the professors who supported me and helped me realize it was okay to step back and decrease my load. I focused on healing and working on new coping mechanisms while attending fewer classes. Thankfully, most symptoms resolved with time, and I was able to complete my master’s degree a short time later. It could not have been done without open, sincere communication with my mentor and the rest of the faculty in the psychology department.