#82: Adapting to New Majors and New Models with Alyssa Gorkin '24, Psychology

While Alyssa came to Reed planning to study economics and eventually go to law school, she ended up writing a psychology thesis on social anxiety, drinking motives, and alcohol use in gender-diverse communities. In this episode, Alyssa shares about her experience discovering clinical psychology at Reed and taking on a complex statistical analysis project that, despite her best efforts, didn’t always cooperate with her intentions. Tune in to hear Alyssa reflect on how she learned to let go of preconceived notions of the “senior thesis,” how she has been continuing her psychology research post-grad, and how her senior year taught her to occasionally step away from the computer and touch grass. Reed community members can read Alyssa's thesis, "So What We Get Drunk: Social Anxiety, Drinking Motives, and Drinking Outcomes in an Emerging Adult Gender Diverse Community Sample," online in the Electronic Thesis Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/bc3e756c-0b48-445d-807e-49da1a2372cf This is the last episode that our student producer, Ace Lackey '27, will produce for the podcast. We're sad to reach this end, but excited for Ace to start their senior year next year, and who knows, maybe they'll be back to do a mini-episode for us while they're working on their thesis. Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website: reed.edu/burnyourdraft