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Oglethorpe Psych Students Excel at Research Conference
Posted by: | May 07, 2012 | Comments
The annual Georgia Undergraduate Research in Psychology Conference was recently hosted by nearby Kennesaw State University. More than 110 students from nearly 20 universities presented either research posters or talks. Many were honor students from their respective universities—which this year included universities from surrounding states as well.
The Oglethorpe Psychology Department was represented by seven students who had their work accepted for the conference: Jahnavi Delmonico, Julia Fukuda, Cassie Hendrix, Allison Moore, Justin Sabree, Brittany Weiner and Janet Wood. They presented a mixture of research posters and talks based on the original data they had collected in their respective studies from the past year. In addition, all of them participated in a juried competition sponsored by the Georgia Psychological Association (GPA) for best research at the conference. Judges consisted of executive members of the GPA and professors of research methodology.
For the fourth year in a row, an Oglethorpe student earned first place! Specifically, Cassie Hendrix submitted a study she completed during her “Theories of Personality” course on the effects of anxiety on people’s ability to correctly interpret the emotions expressed in facial expressions. She presented her research in a 250-seat auditorium, where she led the audience through a Powerpoint presentation of her study, followed by a question and answer session. Cassie and I (as her faculty sponsor) received certificates of recognition and Cassie received a cash award. She joins previous GPA-sponsored conference winners Ilana Olin and Mary Beth Bidgood (2009), Alyx Buonanotte (2010), and Balbir Khalsa and Brittany Weiner (2011).
Participants had the opportunity to attend all the talks and poster sessions, as well as listen to a key
note address and attend a career/graduate school panel discussion. It was an excellent opportunity to meet students and professors from other schools and to learn from fellow excellent researchers.
All of the students gained valuable experience, practiced publicly presenting and defending their work, and had a good time spending the day with each other and the department faculty. Congratulations to all of you!
Editor’s Note: The Oglethorpe University Psychology Department routinely encourages its students to submit original research they have designed and conducted to professional research conferences. Our students typically attend several conferences during their undergraduate education. Submitting one’s work for peer review by experts in the field and then defending that work in a professional setting is wonderful training for graduate school, professional schools (e.g., medical and law) and many careers.
Oglethorpe’s New “Short Courses” Are Long on Fun & Learning
Posted by: | April 23, 2012 | Comments
OU shook things up this semester by adding a variety of short courses that focused on fun topics and experiences. Many students took advantage of the 13 one-time learning and recreational experiences, mostly taught by Oglethorpe staff.
This semester’s short courses have explored interesting topics like “How to Survive in the Woods…in a Hammock” with Jon Nooner, technical director for the Conant Performing Arts Center, and “Extreme Couponing” with Bre Berris, director of Greek affairs. Students indulged their sweet tooth with Kim-Marie John, Emerson Cafe’s baker, in a short course that introduced the art of decorating your own cupcake. Residence Life Coordinator Alyssa De Gazon led a short course discussion about the The Hunger Games book series. Students also toured Elm Street Gardens, a two-acre community organic garden, founded by alumnus Robert Currey, which provides food for hundreds of families in Hancock County, the poorest county in Georgia. Students also gathered to learn “Sign Language: 50 words you need to know”, a short course taught by Jay Gardiner, OU’s athletics director (pictured above). Gardiner shared his knowledge in a fun and interactive environment that left the students asking for more.
The short courses were so popular that there are already plans for them to return in the fall semester. The Office of Campus Life invites students to submit ideas for short courses. If there is a skill you would like to learn—or teach—send your suggestions to Kendra Hunter at khunter@oglethorpe.edu and the Office of Campus Life will do their best to make it happen!
OU students toured a two-acre organic community garden founded by OU alumnus Robert Currey.
Oglethorpe Hosts Family of Baseball Great and Alum Luke Appling
Posted by: | April 19, 2012 | Comments
Pictured: Luke Appling (right) celebrates a Stormy Petrel win.
Oglethorpe University welcomed the family of 1932 alum and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Luke Appling to the Brookhaven campus this past Saturday for “Luke Appling Day.” Four generations of the Appling family attended the celebration. Appling’s sister, Linda Appling Sumpter, tossed out the first pitch prior to the Petrels’ game against Birmingham-Southern.
“Luke Appling Day” was in observance of the inaugural “NCAA Division III Week,” an initiative launched to celebrate the division’s unique philosophy that equally values academics, athletics and student-athletes’ involvement in a full and rich campus life.
Lucius “Luke” Appling enjoyed a stellar college career at Oglethorpe and, in 1930, led the Stormy Petrels to a perfect 15-0 record. In his final game against collegiate competition, Appling went out in style, hitting three homeruns against Mercer University. Appling was signed to a professional contract and spent the next 20 seasons wearing the #4 jersey and playing shortstop for the Chicago White Sox. He made seven All-Star Appearances and won two American League batting titles, including hitting .388 in 1936 and being named the best shortstop in baseball. In 1964 he was elected into the Major League Baseball Hall Fame.
Appling's sister, Linda Appling Sumpter, tossed out the first ceremonial pitch.
Among the attendees for Luke Appling Day were two of Appling’s three children—Linda Appling Sumpter and Carol Tribble. Their brother, Luke Appling III, was unable to attend but his daughter, Lisa Dunbar, was on hand for the occasion. Her daughter, Erin, Appling’s great grandchild, served as the Stormy Petrel Ball Girl for game. In addition to Lisa, six more of Luke Appling’s grandchildren were in attendance with their families.
The pregame reception included a historical display of artifacts depicting Appling’s career provided by the Oglethorpe University Archives. A booklet of press clippings detailing Appling’s meteoric rise in the world of baseball was presented to family members. Oglethorpe student-athletes joined the family members for a post-game cookout in the right field pavilion.
- Four generations of the Appling family gathering on the steps of Oglethorpe University’s Schmidt Center.
Oglethorpe Magazine Examines “The Art of Critical Thinking”
Posted by: | February 27, 2012 | Comments
Attention all OU alumni, parents, students and friends—the latest issue of Oglethorpe’s award-winning Carillon magazine is here!
This issue delves into the role of liberal arts and sciences in the 21st century and features articles written by senior Foss Baker and Dr. Brian Patterson, assistant professor of computer science & mathematics, President Schall, and our new provost, Dr. Denise von Herrmann.
Read stories about Oglethorpe alumni using their liberal arts education—sometimes in unusual ways! Did you know an OU alum wrote the 2010 CMA Song of the Year? Or, that an OU alum’s thriving business was featured on HGTV, and that another alum is the editor of a top magazine?!
Get a sneak peek into the plans for a new student center. Learn about the freshman class’s new What the Dog Saw common reading program, and hear from the newest additions to the Office of Campus Life—Danny Glassmann, Kendra Hunter and Bre Berris—about the plans they have for student life at Oglethorpe.
Alumna Chloey Mayo’s “Oglethorpe in Lights” offers a glamorous twist on some campus events of Hollywood proportion with a review the TV shows, movies and commercials that have used OU as their backdrop.
Read the Carillon here or look out for the magazine at your home—and let us know what you think!
The Internship Hunt: A Recent Oglethorpe Graduate’s View
Posted by: | February 15, 2012 | Comments
Although an internship is a vital piece of any junior or senior’s college experience, finding and applying for the right one can be fraught with difficulty and second guessing. I have found that through my experience, sometimes college kids might be putting a little too much emphasis on finding the “perfect” internship and not enough on taking a few chances at the time in their life when it is best to do so.
My internship was not taken on a whim, and I certainly don’t advise that any students reading this take my advice to be advocating such a thing, but rather it was found in an unexpected place and was not in the same field that I had imagined myself trying to get an internship in during most of my college years.
Let me first say that my major was in economics, and while Oglethorpe University definitely has, in my eyes, the finest economics faculty in the city, I didn’t really see myself going forward in the field once my studies ended. Therefore I was at a bit of a crossroads when it came to potential career paths.
One day I was hanging out in the Goodman computer lab when I saw a posting on the bulletin board in the hallway for a search marketing internship. My curiosity was piqued as I had been discussing the world of internet marketing with a friend of mine merely a week or so earlier.
Having never really seen myself as a marketing type of person, I decided to take a chance. Because in my mind the worst that could happen was I would find the field not for me and start over from scratch, wiser and without having lost anything. Not to mention that it helped that the work done during this internship was well compensated, a rare sight in today’s world of unpaid internships.
When I began working for the company, a fast growing pest control e-business in Norcross known as Do My Own Pest Control, I didn’t really know what to expect. I had only a passing knowledge of the specific things that make search marketing so effective, and while the marketing classes at Oglethorpe had given me a good basis in the ideals behind getting one’s message out there, it soon became clear that I had a lot to learn about the ins and outs of what is known as “inbound marketing” that is such a vital portion of an e-commerce site’s success.
My primary duty during the internship was to write small and informative articles on the products and pests that the company deals with day to day. And it was here that my education from a liberal arts college such as Oglethorpe really began to show its worth. Being comfortable with and proficient in writing was a great skill to have, and one that many schools do not go to great lengths to impart on their students. In addition to the strength of the economics curriculum itself, the insistence on excelling at written communication through the core curriculum is one of the greatest things that Oglethorpe has to offer.
Taking a chance on the internship itself proved to be a good decision, as I enjoyed the work and found myself learning quite a bit about the world of search engines and search marketing. This was enhanced by the fact that the head of the internet marketing team at the company had weekly training sessions that were both informative and interesting to attend, and really helped to give more meaning to the more abstract writing I was doing for the job. It helped to know exactly why things on the internet are set up the way they are, and virtually all of this knowledge was new to me, having come from a scholastic background in economics.
As the internship wound down, I was beginning to worry about finding a full time job, but I felt more confident going into the job search with the skills I had acquired over the summer. Any worrying about job searching however was alleviated when I was offered a full-time position in the same marketing capacity that I had been assisting with as an intern.
So looking back, the combination of the skills I learned at Oglethorpe and the willingness to take a chance on an internship that wasn’t necessarily within my field of study led me to a job in which I’m very happy and learning new things about the world of e-commerce every day. So my advice to those students currently sweating over exams and internships, don’t worry so much…and consider taking the same sort of chance I did.
Sam Hutcheson ’11 is part of the search marketing team at DoMyOwnPestControl.com. Started in 2004, it is currently one of the fastest growing pest control companies in the United States.