Majors: Psychology, Communication Studies
Hometown: Fairfield, Nebraska Jenae will be a senior this fall, double-majoring in psychology and communication studies in the College of Arts and Sciences.
“I'm from Fairfield, Nebraska, and I've loved being able to study topics I'm interested in and participate in research at UNL,” Jenae said.
She has always been interested in psychology and felt it was the right field of study for her.
“I’m especially drawn to behavioral psychology and getting into the more philosophical side of it,” Jenae said. “I decided to add communications to the mix to give me a leg up in the business world.”
One of her favorite courses so far has been PHIL 101: Introduction to Philosophy, taught by Janelle Gormley, a graduate student and teaching assistant.
“The class honestly changed how I look at the world and myself. She is just an amazing professor, and I really admire her work and the way she thinks,” Jenae said. “She makes you look at things in a completely new way.” This summer, Jenae received an Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (UCARE) grant and is taking the experiential learning course, COMM 398: Research Assistantship in Communication Studies. “I’m a research assistant in Dr. Kathryn Holland’s Sexual Assault and Sexual Health (SASH) Lab, working on Title IX policy research,” Jenae said. “My path to this summer's project was great because Rebecca Howard Valdivia, a graduate teaching assistant in Women's and Gender Studies, actually reached out to me directly. She asked me to get into the qualitative coding side of the lab, which led to us collaborating on the proposal and submitting the UCARE application.”
The UCARE program offers students opportunities to work with distinguished faculty on innovative research. To apply, UCARE applicants submit proposals to conduct research or creative projects under the guidance of their faculty mentors.
“I wanted to get some hands-on, real-world experience over the summer instead of just traditional classwork,” Jenae said. “Immersing myself in actual research felt like the best way to grow my skills.”
She recently had an experience that showed how much the project has already helped her build practical skills and gain new knowledge.
“A really cool moment was during one of my weekly meetings with Rebecca. We were going over an interview she gave me to code, and I realized I had coded it pretty fast and it just flowed straight through,” Jenae said. “It was awesome to see how much easier it's gotten for me.”
Jenae is still exploring what she wants to do after graduation and is grateful for this summer experiential learning opportunity, which has led her to seriously consider a career in research.
“Learning more about qualitative coding has interested me a lot, and it has definitely improved my research and analytical skills,” Jenae said.
