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Career
Profiles - Charisse Nixon
- Describe your career field.
I am a developmental psychologist and
I study how and why people change, as
well as stay the same. Developmental
psychologists study all the age periods,
through conception to death. My area
of interest is with young children.
Developmental psychology is broken down
into three major areas: cognitive (how
people think), physical (changes in
body size, appearance and functioning
of body systems), and emotional and
social development (emotional understanding
, self-understanding, relationships
and knowledge about people). My area
of interest lies primarily in studying
young children's emotional and social
development. Specifically, what I like
to study is how young children think
and process emotional and social information,
and which factors (e.g., family influences)
affect the children's understanding.
Even though developmental psychologists
do many different things, we all have
the same goal in common, which is to
try and identify the factors that influence
the changes and consistencies in people
as they grow.
- How did you become interested
in this field?
I was always interested in learning
about how and why people are the way
they are. As a teenager, I particularly
loved working with children. I was very
challenged by children but also really
enjoyed their pure enthusiasm for life.
What intrigued me most was how children
growing up in similar environments (e.g.,
the same family) were so very different.
What kind of factors were most important
in influencing their thinking? How did
living in family conflict influence
a growing child's idea of relationships?
I first became interested in pursuing
psychology in college where I took some
courses as an undergraduate. I was a
biology major, but I had the opportunity
to take some psychology courses as electives.
I enjoyed it so much that I decided
to double major in psychology along
with biology. Since psychology is also
a science, there was a lot of overlap
between the two areas.
After graduating from undergraduate
college, I decided to pursue the area
of education. I really enjoyed working
with children, so I decided to go to
graduate school for a masters in Guidance
and Counseling. After I finished that
degree, I went to work at a small college
as a special programmer. A large part
of my job was to design and coordinate
student programs that explored drug
use, alcohol use, eating disorders,
and sexual issues. I also had the opportunity
to teach some courses. After three years
of working in the field of college student
affairs, I found myself asking more
and more questions
about development, particularly adolescent
development. I came across a lot of
college students who had a real difficult
time making healthy choices about relationships,
eating behaviors and drug use. At that
time, I decided to go back to school
once again to really explore how children
and adolescents develop. I needed to
do more than just read about development.
I wanted to conduct my own studies to
explore some of the factors that influenced
a child's development. So, I applied
to a Ph.D. program in developmental
psychology and started school the next
fall. The Ph.D. program allowed me to
follow my true passions: my passion
for learning more about development,
as well as my passion for teaching others.
- What education did you have to
obtain and how many years, what major,
degrees?
I have a bachelor's degree in psychology
and biology. Although the two degrees
took me four years to complete, there
were several semesters, I took 18 credits
of coursework to finish my two degrees.
I have a master's degree in Guidance
and Counseling which took me two years
to complete. My master's degree and
Ph.D. in developmental psychology took
about 5 years to complete.
- What were your favorite subjects
in school?
I really liked school. However, I did
have my favorite subjects. I really
enjoyed math and science the best, particularly
math. I loved solving the problems.
Sometimes it took me quite a while to
get it, but I felt a great deal of satisfaction
once I figured it out. I wasn't especially
keen on history, but I think it was
because the teachers I had never brought
it to life. It's so important to try
and understand how each subject you
take now in school will help you in
the real world. I now know that all
the subjects I took in school were really
important to me in preparing me for
my job and other life circumstances.
For example, all the math classes I
took in school gave me the background
to understand the beginnings of statistics.
And as a psychologist, I use statistics
all the time to try and figure out what
the numbers mean from the data collected
in a study.
- How do you balance a family and
career?
I think balancing a career and a family
is perhaps the most difficult task I
have ever undertaken. I have two small
children, Katie, who is three and Abby,
who is one. I absolutely adore my children
and would never do anything that would
compromise their development. Working
at a college, I have somewhat of a flexible
schedule that allows me to spend time
with my kids. I think one of the keys
to a successful balance between family
and career is having a spouse who is
willing to be flexible and at times
adjust his schedule to help accommodate
my schedule. Both of my children seem
really happy and appear to be doing
well. I do try and spend a lot of time
with them. So what that means is that
I need to stay up late a lot of nights
or get up really early before the girls
wake up to complete my work for teaching
and research. I find great joy in both
raising a family and in pursuing my
career. Teaching is part of me. It is
who I am and I cannot imagine not doing
what I do. At the same time, my children
are my first priority and are the most
important people in the world to me.
Thus, as you can see I am constantly
in search of maintaining a healthy balance
between my career and my family.
- What's the coolest thing about
your career?
Probably the best thing about my career
is that I am always learning. I am constantly
challenged thinking about how new research
findings impact the lives of our children.
I am always thinking about new ways
to study children's development. I am
also challenged daily by teaching my
students; always trying to think of
new ways to communicate the concepts
as well as effective ways to motivate
my students to dig deeper and explore
aspects of development on their own.
- Anything you would like to add?
I want to encourage you that whatever
background you come from, no matter
what your situation is, (e.g., your
current grades), THINK BIG. I think
it's really important to think about
what you really enjoy, what you have
a passion for and then, go after it.
The resources to pursue your passion
are out there. They are available to
you. However, sometimes you really need
to look for them. Don't let anyone tell
you you can't do something. Always have
the mentality that you will find a way.
Try to take advantage of every opportunity
to learn something new. Learning is
a mind set that becomes a lifelong habit.
It doesn't end after high school. The
love of learning is one of the best
gifts you could ever give yourself.
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