Have You Met…Kimberly? | W2 Introductions | Discussion

Hi everyone!

Most of you know a lot about me already, so I will try to add some new details to make this less redundant for you.

I grew up in Cadillac, MI and had both the private and public school experience. I attended a private Catholic school until 8th grade when I switched to the public High School. For my undergraduate degree, I attended Central Michigan University (CMU) with the intention of completing a degree in psychology and going on to conduct research in social psychology. While there, I worked as an experimenter and confederate in a study investigating whether or not innocent suspects were more likely than guilty suspects to waive their Miranda rights, specifically their right to a lawyer. After discovering that this was indeed the case, I designed a study to explore police interrogation protocols that were less likely to provoke a Miranda waiver with the goal of pushing for changes in the justice system that are less likely to elicit false confessions and wrongful convictions. This study was FINALLY published in 2016 after years of revisions.

Also while at CMU, I participated in a service-learning program in Oaxaca, Mexico where I worked at two orphanages teaching English for a brief period. This was my first experience abroad and hooked me on traveling. Soon after, I went to Ghana with CMU’s med students to help run a free health clinic in a rural village for a week. I taught sex education to locals and assisted an ob/gyn in testing the women for cervical cancer. These experiences abroad peaked my interest in education and caused me to postpone my study of social psychology. I added history as a second major to psychology, graduated during my third year at CMU, and went to the University of Michigan to receive a Master’s degree and my teacher certification. I student taught at an alternative school in Southfield, MI in which all the students had experienced some form of trauma. The inequities I witnessed everyday were a huge part of the inspiration for my poetry book.

After graduating from the University of Michigan, I was hired to teach IB Psychology and Theory or Knowledge at a school in Quito, Ecuador. A coworker and I started a club called Power of Voice to provide a space for students to talk about important topics (diversity, machismo culture, transgender issues, etc.). I returned from Ecuador this past July after traveling to the Galapagos Islands!

I know work as an RA and TA at MSU and am interested in the following topics:
• The relationship between engagement and long- term outcomes (career choice)
• Instructional strategies related to positive short-term and long-term outcomes for females in STEM