Hi everyone – my name is Gina and this is my very first entry on The Paterno Fellows Program blog!

To let you know a little bit about myself, I am currently a junior in the College of Liberal Arts, working on my B.S. in Psychology (Biological and Evolutionary Sciences option) and a minor in Sexuality and Gender Studies. I officially became a Paterno Fellow and Schreyer Scholar in April 2010, during the spring semester of my sophomore year. This past summer, I spent time assisting a post-doctoral research team in the Psychopathology Research Unit at The University of Pennsylvania and this semester I have begun work as a research assistant in the Child Attention and Learning lab here at Penn State. I am interested in attending graduate school for clinical psychology and hope to find an internship for summer 2011 that helps me solidify my area of interest within the field.  

For my first post, I would like to ask all of you as Paterno Fellows: what are some topics you would like to see written about in the PFP blog? There are countless possibilities for blog topics, but in order to make sure I supply all of you all with information that is useful, interesting, and relevant, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

To get you started, here are a few broad ideas for this semester that I have considered so far:

• Coverage of PFP and campus events relevant to the Liberal Arts.

• Presentation of discussion topics relevant to Penn State, the world, or the PFP with opportunities for student comments and debate.

• Interviews with and information from professors and students regarding their research work, relevant experiences, or other topics of interest.

• Information for aspiring and enrolled Paterno Fellows about opportunities the program has to offer and the many ways you can go about achieving your academic goals.

Do any of these categories stand out to you as interesting? While you were reading, were there any specific topics within these categories you thought of that you would like to see? If so, please feel free to leave a comment on this post with your suggestions! If you would rather send your suggestions via email, don’t hesitate to contact me at gmm5114@psu.edu.

Thanks for your time and I hope to hear from many of you very soon! =)