Art on the brain

Amelia’s passions for creating art and learning about the human brain sparked her interest in an art therapy career. A double major in psychology and graphic design, she hopes to provide art therapy to children in a clinical or hospital setting. Amelia is an honors student, percussionist in the Symphonic Band and Red Raider Athletic Band, and a mentor for the Northwestern NEXT program.

Creative healing
I have always been fascinated when learning about human behavior and its causes, and I have always had a passion for art. Pursuing degrees in both psychology and graphic design will allow me to combine my passions and start on my path to becoming an art therapist. I would love to help disadvantaged children in a clinical or hospital setting. 

Research mentors
The professors in the psychology department are approachable, intentional and helpful. They are always willing to help students on an individual basis, whether it pertains to class or not. Individual research studies can be a challenging task, but the professors and peer tutors support us students every step of the way. These projects are vital to grad school preparation, so professors’ willingness to help students complete thorough research is one of the reasons why our psychology department is so strong. 

Questions of faith
Psychologists must ask “why?” all the time to push their theories further. Studying psychology at Northwestern has trained me to ask these “why” questions, to dig deeper and to think critically. This practice has encouraged my spiritual development as I begin to understand why I believe what I believe and how my faith can become my own.

Campus connections
I appreciate the aspects of college life that are unique to living on a small campus. Running into people and quickly reconnecting has helped me stay in touch with friends over several class years, despite not being involved in the same classes or activities. Consistently small class sizes have contributed to my learning. I feel fully comfortable to be bold in the classroom, especially because I’ve had the same professors and a similar set of classmates in psychology classes throughout the years.