Students Present at 2017 SSEA Conference | Roanoke College Psychology Department

Taylor Kracht ’18 and Molly Zydel ’19 present at SSEA in Washington, D.C. (November 2-4, 2017).

Three current psychology students and one former student at Roanoke College were recently able to present their findings at the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA) conference in Washington D.C., alongside the department’s Dr. Powell.

The theme for the SSEA’s 8th biennial conference was focusing on “Emerging Adults as Change-Makers Around the World.”

Left to right: Taylor Kracht ’18, Molly Zydel ’19, and Dr. Powell. Kracht and Zydel were presenting secondary analyses conducted on Stephanie Gaines’s independent study. Gaines graduated last May and was unable to attend the conference.

For these students, the opportunity to present their posters was an incredible experience.

Molly Zydel ’19 commented that…

“SSEA was great! It went very well for all of us with our presentations. At SSEA, we got a chance to talk to other professors, graduate students, and scholars about our research and theirs. It was interesting to get a perspective from others! We also got a chance to pick out different paper sessions to go to, where we got to listen to people present about their whole paper!”

One of the sessions students were able to go to and enjoyed seeing was the scholar Jeffrey Arnett, who created the theory of emerging adulthood as a life-stage.

Kirchoff, a former student at RC who is currently pursuing her master’s degree in Educational Psychology at the University of Virginia, presents her and Victoria Preston’s findings at SSEA.

“Kiah presented secondary analyses conducted on Kelsie Kreuzburg’s independent study project. Kelsie graduated this past May and was unable to attend the conference. Victoria Preston was the fourth author on this poster, but was unable to attend the conference,” according to Dr. Powell

Dr. Powell further commented on how impressed she was by her students, saying

The students did a great job presenting their posters and interacting with the other scholars. The conference is predominately attended by those who have earned their doctorate degree or who are working on an advanced degree, so the students were definitely in the minority. However, they represented my Developmental Self-Knowledge Lab, the Psychology Department, and Roanoke College incredibly well.

She continued on to discuss how the students found the information presented by other scholars interesting because of the relevance to them, as “the research samples emerging adults (i.e., those between the ages of 18 and 25; and is life-span stage that they are in)” and were on topics such as “… mental health, identity development, romantic relationships, peer relationships.”

We’re proud of our students (both current and former) and look forward to seeing what they will accomplish the future!

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