Changing the Trajectories of Lives
Meet neuroscience major Marissa Cooper.
Hometown: Pflugerville, Texas
Thesis adviser: Professor Lisa Velkoff [psychology]
Thesis: “A Systematic Review of Coping Mechanisms for Black Adolescents Experiencing Anxiety—and How That May Contribute to the School to Prison Pipeline”
What it’s about: The importance of teaching emotional regulation and active coping to youth—especially Black youth—and how that could change the trajectory of their lives.
In high school: I was a gigantic band geek. I played flute, but I wanted to play French horn or piano or something else; I hated the flute. At the time, I think I wanted to be an astrophysicist. I think I liked the idea of studying something that was very unknown.
Outside the classroom: The first part of college, I was really adamant about going to a lot of Black Student Union meetings. During sophomore and junior year of college, I joined this club that was a bit more underground called SOCU x Receipts. It’s basically the Students of Color Union plus Receipts, which is this website that highlights the art and creative work that students of color on campus do. Basically, just giving students of color mental health advice about how to not fall into impostor syndrome—and how to be the best person they can be when they’re in an institution where they’re not really seeing other people like themselves, especially in classrooms.
On-campus leadership: I am the lead student worker in the archives. As part of my job, I made this blues exhibit—and I was able to look back in time to the blues revival happening in America in the 1960s, when there were a lot of famous blues artists who were coming to Reed.
Concept that blew my mind: In my neurological behavioral class, we looked at human brains that the psychology department has. There’s something really odd and beautiful about human brains looking the same, being the same . . . but they are literally you. It’s an organ that holds everything about yourself. It’s crazy to even conceptualize that I was looking at one and touching one.
Awards: The Belongingness Intern Recognizing Diversity (BIRD) fellowship, an opportunity for biology students to engage in a paid summer fellowship—especially students from historically underrepresented groups.
What’s next? Most likely, I will be having some sort of psychology research job for the next two to three years. Then I will apply for a PhD in clinical psychology.
Tags: Academics, Students, Thesis, What is a Reedie?