CUNY Writing Fellows

A true New Yorker, I was born and raised in Brooklyn and received my B.S. in Psychology from Brooklyn College. As an undergraduate, I became quite interested in the relationship between psychology and neuroscience. I joined a research laboratory where I studied learned food preferences in rats. This experience served to further my interests as well as provided me with a foundation in scientific writing. Concomitantly, I also took the writing-intensive course, Experimental Psychology, which helped to develop these writing abilities.

In September 2004, my fascination with neuroscience and psychology led me to the CUNY Graduate Center’s Neuropsychology Ph.D. program, based at Queens College. Throughout my five years in the program, I’ve had the opportunity to learn both basic neuroscience and the clinical applications of psychological assessment and therapy. My dissertation research builds upon the work I completed as an undergraduate, examining the genetic and pharmacological influences on food preferences. This research is accomplished through the administration of opioid and dopamine antagonists to several inbred mouse strains and ultimately may have an impact on heart disease and diabetes.

I have also taught several undergraduate courses, including Personality Psychology and Experimental Psychology. When I began teaching Experimental Psychology at Queens College, I looked forward to inspiring in my students the same fondness for writing that I had developed as an undergraduate. Although the process of learning how to write APA-style papers is often dreaded by many students, I tried to make it accessible by using resources I had obtained as an undergraduate. I provided my students with many examples and exercises that clarify thesis development, the stylistic conventions of APA style, and sentence and paragraph organization. As the semester progressed, I observed initially wary students opening up to critical thinking and scientific writing. Watching that “light bulb moment” of understanding in my students was a thrill that I looked forward to every semester.

The Writing Across the Curriculum initiative aims to help undergraduate students become proficient in every aspect of writing, from elemental grammar and organization to complex thesis development. As a CUNY undergraduate student, I have experienced and benefited from this initiative firsthand. As a graduate student and instructor of a writing-intensive course, I have gained the necessary experience to teach others effective and comprehensive writing techniques. As a CUNY Writing Fellow, I look forward to providing current undergraduates with the same knowledge and opportunities from which I have benefited.