Alumnae Spotlight

Rachel Cook graduated from Agnes Scott in 2012 with a BA in Psychology with a minor in Music.  She is originally from Springfield, Tennessee, a town a little north of Nashville.  She is currently pursuing a PhD in Family and Human Development at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.  Her research interests include gender stereotyping and its effects on children's peer interactions, hobbies, and academic interests and achievement.  She is most thankful for the opportunities an Agnes Scott education provides - opportunities to grow personally, professionally, and intellectually; to learn from people very different from herself and appreciate what diversity provides, and to develop the confidence to thrive in graduate school and beyond.  She wrote: “Dr. Hughes and the other wonderful Psychology faculty prepared us so well for graduate school not only by making sure we developed the research and professional skills we need to succeed in the field, but also by helping us cultivate a love for psychology and our own research interests and ideas.”  While at Agnes Scott she worked on several research projects with Dr. Hughes and Dr. Brown.  She presented those papers at conferences and her work was published in the Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research.   She spent a month in Europe celebrating finishing her master's thesis and again went back this summer to visit.   She plans to do this every year from now on.  While there, she lived her favorite nerdy moments in London and Cardiff, saw the most beautiful flowers in the Keukenhof gardens, and ate the best pizza, pasta, and gelato in Rome.  The photo is from her travels.  She appreciates that the new Summit program encourages all students to travel.