By Kae Schmidt

Emma Abraham is a first-year undergraduate student at the University of Kentucky, majoring in psychology and minoring in human development and family science. She is also a social media intern for the Psychology Department. While she has only been in her position for a short while, she praises the many opportunities she has been given to meet new people and build connections. This is the first time the Psychology Department at the University of Kentucky has had a social media intern. She described her position as being quite like a test run.

"The freedom of this internship comes with its independence" she said, something she enjoys and hopes to build on.

In high school, Abraham was a social chair for an organization where she worked in social media and marketing. When she arrived at the University of Kentucky, she was drawn by the welcoming atmosphere of the Psychology Department. After being encouraged in PSY 195 to take initiative, she found this internship through the Psych Majors Canvas page and decided to let the risk pay off. Despite being a first-year student, she has plenty of advice to give. 

"Put yourself out there," she said "You can get so many opportunities if you just do it and take the risk." With that drive, she is working on a couple of important projects. She highlighted that she has been busy making save-the-dates for the Psychology Department's Honors Day and posts for One Day for UK, which is focused on fundraising.

Through her time as an intern, she has enjoyed the welcoming atmosphere and hopes to gain more experience and build relationships with like-minded people who share her passion. That drive is perhaps most evident in her work creating all of the Psychology Department's social media accounts from scratch.

Abraham expressed her appreciation for how "open and extroverted" the Psychology program is. She noted that her appreciation for psychology stemmed from how much she loves to help people.

She said she felt "all the classes I take could help others, and I want to help others in the future." After completing her degree, she hopes to go to graduate school. While careers are quite an open topic for her, she has a driving passion to work with kids. She felt the clinical route was not a good fit and that psychology offered the best path toward her goals. 

For more information about the department or to follow her work, find the Psychology Department on social media.