I love Fridays.
One Friday each month, the psychology department at Linfield hosts Research Experience and Pizza (REAP), a student-faculty research presentation. Last Friday, sophomore Katricia Stewart talked about her research with Dr. Yanna Weisberg on musical involvement and how it relates to an individual’s goal orientation and personality. Everyone who attended was treated to pizza (well, obviously) and heard about how they surveyed different people in the community. What did they find? Those who were involved in music scored significantly higher in openness (one of the dimensions of personality), and lower in orderliness (uh-oh!).
The psych-fun didn’t stop there; after work, I carpooled with other psychology majors to the Golden Valley Brewery and Pub downtown, where we met with other Linfield Psi Chi members and psychology professors. Psi Chi is an honor society in psychology that majors and minors can apply to if they meet certain academic criteria. About 12 of us showed up at the restaurant, eating delicious sides and chatting about everything from prenuptial agreements to the accident Dr. Gilden got into on the way there. No worries, it was only minor. It was definitely a fun experience being able to talk with professors, many of whom I’ve never met before, casually and without a lot of pressure.
At night, I decided to help my friends and be a part of their Korean dance performance for the upcoming International Club Culture Show. I went in thinking Korean pop dances would be a piece of cake. I came out utterly exhausted. First of all, who knew so much actual hip moving was involved in those Korean music videos? And second, Oppa Gangnam Style is a pretty intense dance. We have our practices in the multipurpose room in the gym basement. It’s a neat dancing space, complete with mirrors, a barre and wooden floors.
So, although I might not be (scratch that – I definitely am not) the college partier, I can still have fun on Fridays. 