Dear Psychology Graduate Students, 

Usually, our department celebrates Grad Student Appreciation week with a number of fun activities and programming, orchestrated by our dedicated grad studies team Ashley Ramm, June Eubanks and Nicole Allen. Although we are foregoing these in-person gatherings and events this fall (but hoping to host them in the spring) I hope that you know that we appreciate you each and every day of the year, not just during this week and not just when we take the time to say it explicitly. You are our intellectual family; you make our investment in our own education worthwhile, you make the work we do today possible, and you are the promise of the future that we work toward. Training and working with you is one of the most rewarding, if not the most rewarding, aspects of becoming an academic. We are here to support you professionally and personally in every way we can, especially in these unusual times when we must find innovative ways to connect and do our work.  

I personally wish to thank you all for choosing to be here and for all the contributions you make to our department. I want to acknowledge that the last 8 months have been especially stressful, and I am especially grateful and impressed with the fortitude and positive spirit that you have all brought to them (or is it March 240th?) You have helped keep us on track, you've been incredibly conscientious, and you have engaged with us in essential problem-solving. You've come up with fantastic ideas for research and operational innovation in light of all the new constraints we have. We've turned to you for skills and talents that are uniquely helpful and found joy and inspiration in sharing activities and ideas over zoom and in our backyards and driveways. 

Although the last 8 months have been unique, our interactions with you have always been, and always will be, a fundamental part of our mission and one that we wholeheartedly embrace. 

My best, 

Wendy