By Olivia Cushman
As a freshman in my second semester at WNE during the COVID-19 Pandemic, and on top of not being totally sold on going to a 4 year college right after high school, I was recommended by my University Advisor to take a psychology class as a science requirement for my degree in communication. I figured I’d take it just to fill my credit requirement and to be a full time student at WNE, with no enthusiasm about the subject of psychology whatsoever.
Science was never really my forte, and I was never really good at it, let alone interested in it with all the super boring classes I had to take in high school. However, taking Intro to Psychology this semester was the most fascinating and insightful science class I have probably ever taken. The added aspect of having a super cool professor to teach the class made Intro to Psych more than fun.
Professor Jenna M. Gray is a PhD fellow in the behavior analysis program at WNE and teaches here part-time. I must say, as only a part time professor, she sure made psychology more interesting than it sounded initially to me.
As a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA), Gray has done some work with children on the autism spectrum, teaching them communication skills and methods of managing emotions. BCBAs like Jenna have come across and introduced me to the saying that “if you meet one person on the autism spectrum, you’ve met one person on the autism spectrum,” knowing better than anyone (from an outsider’s perspective, not being part of the autistic community) that the autism spectrum is so vast and diverse, that no two people with autism can be nearly the same. As a mental health advocate in addition to being on the autism spectrum, I can confidently say that my fascination with Jenna and her class comes from the fact that she has done this kind of work as a BCBA.
Only being a freshman, my class with Ms. Gray was Intro to Psychology, or Psych 101. She said to me that this is one of her favorite psych classes to teach, along with behavioral psychology. She likes to get freshmen psyched (no pun intended) about psychology and the science behind it when they first come into the university.
I commented to Jenna about her very laid-back, down-to-earth teaching style, which in combination with the subject of psychology made it a perfect class and environment to not only succeed in, but to genuinely enjoy. She knows more than anyone else that her students have a life outside of class and school, and as long as you try in her class, you’ll be rewarded with a good grade. She knows that freshmen (such as myself) are in entirely new situations coming to school for the first time, and some aren’t even entirely sold on their major or the whole college experience yet, following the dark time of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Nonetheless, it was very nice to hear that what keeps Jenna motivated to get her PhD is her students. She really wants to be a full-time professor, and the genuine energy and enthusiasm that her students give to her is what motivates her to push through and get her PhD. This is inspiring to me, since I’m not totally sold on what I want to pursue yet in college. But the truth is, you have to push through and work hard to get where you want to be in life.
