My passionate interest in helping people live their lives to their fullest potential is what attracted me to psychology. My early training and experiences prepared me for career opportunities that I could scarcely have imagined as an undergraduate in college. Ultimately, I identified as a health psychologist because it is a field that goes beyond traditional mental health and addresses broader...

Tynisa Gaines is an Enrolled Agent which is the highest license granted to a tax professional to represent clients before the IRS nationwide. In my private tax practice, even though clients are not literally on my couch, I use my psychology degree daily to organize the relevance of their personal information for their tax return. Although, difficult sometimes, I limit my recommendations to tax...

How/why did you choose Psychology as a major? I have always been interested in human behavior, how the brain works, and what drives us to make the choices we make. What specific skills did you develop by taking Psychology courses? Studying psychology challenged me to think critically, learn to ask the right questions, and become a problem-solver. It helped me...

How/why did you choose Psychology as a major? I was always interested in human behavior and the underlying physiological process underlying those behaviors. What specific skills did you develop by taking Psychology courses? Experimental design, conducting experiments, statistical analysis, undergraduate teaching assistant, report writing skills, presentation...

How/why did you choose Psychology as a major? Studying the human mind always fascinated me. I also wanted a broad based area of study the would be applicable for many professions. What specific skills did you develop by taking Psychology courses? I learned to ask a lot of questions and that things are not definitely black and white. Being open to new...

How/why did you choose Psychology as a major? People have fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I clearly remember being an 8th grader reading a book called "Why We Do What We Do". Understanding human behavior is an innate interest for me therefore deciding to major in Psychology was an easy decision for me. What specific skills did you develop by taking...

How/why did you choose Psychology as a major? For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in human behavior and its neurologic and psychologic underpinnings. As I began to learn more, I became especially interested in the neurologic and psychologic underpinnings of psychiatric dysfunction and the application of that knowledge base to forensic (legal) issues, both...

I started at the University of Illinois Urbana/Champaign in 1975 with my major in Pre-Dental. The school dropped that as a major after my first year and put me into Biology. Unfortunately, being lumped together with all of the pre-medical and pre-dental students wasn’t my cup of tea. After one semester of this and after taking several enjoyable Psychology classes, I found that the school of...

When I applied to the University of Illinois as a high school senior, I was planning to be a math teacher. Then a co-worker at the local fast food restaurant where I worked after school brought her psychology textbook along to work one evening, and I was hooked. My small rural high school didn’t offer a psychology class, so this was my first exposure to the subject. I quickly switched my major...

How/why did you choose Psychology as a major? I chose Psychology because I wanted to be a therapist and was interested in human behavior. I graduated with a B.S. in Psychology Major, Music Minor, in 1974.  Did you believe that you had to obtain more schooling after your bachelor's degree?  Yes, yes, yes! A bachelors is not enough in today’s job...