--Original published at RachelsCollegeBlog

Hello! My name is Rachel. I am the oldest of 6 kids and I am so excited for the start of this semester. I am going to approach this course with positivity and organizational skills. I am going to take in-depth notes and read the textbook while also taking notes through it as will. I am excited to start this course and get to know more people.

I didn’t choose to take Psychology 105 as I am a first year and was placed into this course. I am however, very excited as I was wanting to take psychology all through high school but was never given the opportunity to be enrolled in the course. That being said, I do not have any background in psychology. When I hear the word psychology I think the brain or just the mind in general, how the mind works and why it works the way that it does.

As I look through the schedule for this class I am most interesting in learning about how to improve memory, mechanics of sleep, and coping with stress. These three topics I feel as though relate to my current life as a college student. I want to be able to improve my memory so I can store all of the new information that I am going to be learning in my classes. I want to learn more about the mechanics of sleep because even though the semester has just started I feel as though I am lacking sleep. Finally, coping with stress because I know as a college student or just a person in this competitive society I will need to learn how to better cope with stress.

Though I am interested in all the topics the three topics that I am the least interested in learning about are classical conditioning, how to choose a therapist, and personality and culture. Classical conditioning is something that I am not interested in more for the fact that I am not someone who does not listen to classical music and I am also not interested in it. The topic of how to choose a therapist, and personality and culture, is something that I am more unsure about what it is going to involve during the course of this topic. Therefore, I am unsure if these three are topics I will enjoy or not so they are the topics that I am least interested in.

The question about  psychology that I would like to be answered before the end of this class is why do some dreams feel so really and sometimes go into reality after waking up?

Can not wait for next class!

Rachel Barnhill

--Original published at Garrettscollegeblog

My name is Garrett Winchilla and I do not have a very strong background in psychology. I took a psych class in high school but it provided an overview of the field rather than detailed analysis of certain experiments and research. I chose to take this class and become a psychology major because I loved the field and wanted to learn more after every class of the high school level course.

What I am looking forward to most in this class after reviewing the syllabus is Moral development, Chemicals & Consciousness, and Coping with stress. Two of these topics were lightly touched in high school but interested me and the third I never learned about before. It is difficult to choose three topics I am least interested in because a vast part of the field fascinates me. However, if I had to choose three topics from the course schedule I would choose Classifying mental illness, psychiatric medication, and How to choose a therapist.

By the end of this class I want to know the most effective way of communication including tone, facial expression, body language, etc. In this generation so much communication happens digitally that some have completely forgot how to communicate, and some never learned at all. By learning this I can help my overall communicative skills and pass that on to others.

--Original published at Kaylyn's PSY105 Blog

This is going to be a great year!

Hello! My name is Kaylyn Gordon, and I am a sophomore student here at E-town. I am originally from Dover, PA where I live with my mother, sister, and 2 miniature Labradoodles names Sandy and Mowgli. I am a huge lover of animals, with goats as my favorite animal of all time. I took this course because not only is it a requirement for my major, but my sister graduated with a Psychology degree and learned a lot of interesting things in her courses. I do not have much background in Psychology other than having depression and anxiety myself. When I hear the word Psychology I think of how the brain works and how mental health affects our everyday lives. The three topics that interest me the most are on sleep, stress, and emotion. I suffer with insomnia and anything I can learn about good sleep is very appreciated. Also, like most students I stress over a lot of things and find it hard to relax and cope with the stress I feel. Lastly, emotions affect my everyday life and they are not always the best emotions to be carrying around all the time. The three topics I am least interested in are on Psychology then and now, group dynamics, and psychiatric medication. I am not a huge history person, even though I know it is important to learn, it just is not my favorite topic. Also, I am not a fan of doing things in a group so I am not too sure about group dynamics. Psychiatric Medication just seems so hard to comprehend since everybody is so different in how they react to medications. The overall question I hope to answer is just a basic form of what is going on inside of my mind. I hope everyone has an amazing semester and I can not wait to get to know you all!

Kaylyn Gordon

--Original published at Rachelsblog

My name is Rachel Christman and I approach this course to be slightly difficult but also very interesting. I decided to take this course because I enjoy learning and studying about the brain and the way it works and affects human behavior. Although, I do not have a wide background with psychology I hope this course will change that. When I hear the word “psychology” I think about the brain and how it is so much more complex than humans think it to be. I am mostly intrigued by the macro and micro topics of the brain in the syllabus. Along with the “How to Improve Memory” and the personality topics. I enjoy learning how and why things happen, which is why I am excited for these topics. The only topic I am not as interested in is “How to Choose a Therapist”, it just does not sound as intriguing and interesting as the others. As I have not taken psychology in high school, I have tons of questions on all of psychology that I’m sure will be answered throughout the course of the semester. I enjoy learning all about how the brain works and all its complexities so I hope all of my questions pertaining to that are answered!

--Original published at Jayln's Perspective

Hello! My name is Jayln Maulfair. I am a first year Biology student at the college this year, which means my first semester consists of: a Biology 111 lecture/lab, an English 101 course, a Harry Potter seminar, and of course– an introductory level Psychology class. I did not choose to take this Psychology class if I am being completely honest; instead, it was simply just a class I was assigned. However, since I am a Biology student who is pursuing a job in the medical field, this class will be extremely beneficial in understanding societal patterns and also humankind in general. I am looking forward to this learning experience since I have no background in Psychology. That being said, I believe that Psychology pertains to a person’s behavior and how their mind works. This area of science helps people get to the root of why they act a certain way. After looking over the syllabus, I am most looking forward to learning how to: cope with stress, classify mental illnesses, and to get a closer look at how the brain works. First, I think that learning how to cope with stress is not only an interesting academic topic, but it is also an applicable, necessary life skill. Second, I believe  that classifying mental illnesses will be captivating because it directly correlates to the diagnostic aspect of the medical field. Lastly, learning how the brain works is fascinating because it helps us further understand our behaviors in an anatomical way. In comparison, I am the least interested in studying observational learning, the Attachment Theory, and the scientific method because all three of those topics seem more on the bland side of Psychology, and they also do not seem as interactive as the rest of the topic appear to be. After this course is finished, I hope that I can have a better understanding of why people behave a certain way in relation to their upbringing and societal pressures.

--Original published at Sydney’s Side

--Original published at Wolfman Productions

For my intro to psychology class at my college, I was asked to make an introductory post about the course.

I chose this course because I need the class for credits and my core requirements for my major.

I have no background in psychology.

When I hear the word “psychology” it makes me think of psychiatrist.

Three topics that interesting to me are How to Make Memories, How to Improve Memories, and Why do we Forget? These interest me because my memory as it is now is terrible when it comes to certain subjects. The three topics I’m least interested in are The Brain: Micro & Macro Level and Theories of Intelligence. These don’t interest me because the topics themselves don’t sound all that captivating.

I can’t think of any questions about psychology I want answered by the end of class.

--Original published at Psychology 105

Hello, my name is Lauren Kerr and I’m a sophomore allied health major. I decided to take Psych 105 because I’m hoping to minor in psychology along with my major. I want to be a physician’s assistant, but I’m planning to specialize in behavioral health which is where I would specifically apply psychology in my career. In high school I took a dual enrollment introductory course; other than that, I have limited experience. When I think of the word “psychology” I think of the study of how the brain functions and its effects on human behavior. Since I want to go into mental health care, I’m most looking forward to the units on mental illness and psychotherapy. However, I’m also just personally interested in the units that cover emotion and human morality.  I’m not really interested in learning about conditioning methods, obedience, or the unit on sleeping. These topics were covered fairly heavily in the other course I took, so that’s really the only reason I’m not super interested in learning about them again. I don’t really have any specific questions about psychology that I’d like to answer, but I would like to know the different ways that psychology and human health are related to each other by the end of this course so I can know where to take my studies next in this field.

--Original published at LivsCollegeBlog

Introduction

Hi! My name is Olivia Hanlon. I am from Hanover, Pennsylvania. If you don’t know where that is (because not many people do), it’s about 15 minutes north of Gettysburg (civil war). We’re also famous for Snyder’s Pretzels and UTZs chips. I am approaching this course with some previous knowledge from taking AP Psych in the fall semester last year. I didn’t really “choose” to take this class but I’m glad I’m taking it because it interests me even though it has nothing to do with my major. Some previous background comes from the AP Psych course I took last year and also being diagnose with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). When I hear the word “psychology,” the first thing that comes to mind is probably psychiatrist and psychologists. The three topics I think look the most interesting are “Classifying Mental Illness”, “Mood Disorders & Anxiety”, and “Psychotic, Traumatic, & Personality Disorders” because I have a mental illness and it is what really interested me in AP Psych. The three topics that look the least interesting are “Classical Conditioning”, “Operant Conditioning”, and “Observational Learning” because I never really liked learning about them in high school. The one question I want to answer by the end of this class is, “what causes depression and how can I make life easier for myself?”

--Original published at HuntersCollegeBlog

Hello! My name is Hunter, and I am a Music Therapy major. I’m heavily involved with music, and I also want to get involved with some other clubs. Psych has always been something that I’ve been absolutely intrigued by, and I’m so excited to be able to have a psych class on my schedule this semester. I took this class, because as a music therapy major, psychology plays a huge role in everything that you do when you’re working with a patient, and because like I said, I just love psych. In high school, I took 2 psych classes that I absolutely loved, and I learned so much, from the history of it, to how people react to different situations. When I hear the word “psychology,” I think about the human brain, and the thought processes. I also think of how people think, and how they rationalize and reason with certain things. I’m most intrigued about learning about the brain (micro/macro level, because I’m intrigued by how the human brain works, and how its set up), how to improve memory (because I have a TERRIBLE one), and coping with stress (because I can’t remember a time where I wasn’t stressed. I think I’m least intrigued about learning the scientific method, because I’ve been taught that a lot over the years. In all honesty, I’m really excited about everything we learn in the course, and I’m really not not excited about anything we’re going to learn. Psychology is such a cool thing, that I think I’ll be excited to learn anything and everything that I can. By the end of this class, I want to answer the question of why I have trouble sleeping, regardless of what I do, and how any chemical imbalance in the brain can happen.