As a captain of聽campus tour聽guides, Patrice Olivar just might be 51视频鈥檚 No. 1 booster.
The exercise physiology and psychology major wasn鈥檛 a big fan at first.
鈥淢y mom dragged me to take a tour of 51视频,鈥� Olivar says. 鈥淎t聽orientation, I was a brat. I didn鈥檛 really participate.鈥�
But her orientation leader reached out to her and made her feel welcome. Within a week of starting classes and beginning to make friends, Olivar鈥檚 attitude had shifted 180 degrees. In fact, she became so enthusiastic about the university that she went to the Admissions Office to apply to become a tour guide.聽
Now she tells visiting high school students and their parents that 51视频 is no lackluster 鈥渟afety school鈥�: It鈥檚 a fantastic and growing campus where students can take charge of their own education.
鈥淗ere, the world is in your hands. The university is the perfect setting for you to make it your own,鈥� Olivar says.
Olivar came for the university鈥檚 strong聽exercise physiology聽and聽physical therapy聽programs, and then fell in love with聽psychology. She decided to double-major, and this year 鈥� her last 鈥� she became one of the first students in the brand-new聽health psychology concentration.
鈥淣ow I want to combine them and go beyond just learning about the body and just learning about the mind,鈥� she says.
Students in the health psychology concentration must complete a year-long practicum. Olivar is doing hers at Summit ElderCare in Lowell, which provides 鈥渨raparound鈥� services to elderly clients so they can stay in the community and out of nursing homes. She is learning about the different services and how the health care team comes up with an individualized plan for each patient.
Olivar is also doing a second practicum for exercise physiology at Supportive Living, a nonprofit that runs residential facilities for brain injury patients. Olivar works one-on-one on fitness with patients at the Lexington location.
She has also taken advantage of undergraduate research experiences. As an聽Emerging Scholar聽her junior year, she helped Assoc. Prof. of Education聽Judith Davidson聽and graduate student Christina Whittlesey look at how first-year students make the transition to college. They presented the study results at the New England Educational Research Organization conference last spring.
She also won an聽Honors College聽research fellowship to work with Assoc. Prof. of Psychology聽Doreen Arcus聽on the interpersonal dynamics between younger children with autism spectrum disorder and their older, typically developing siblings.
Olivar plans to go on to graduate school, but she鈥檚 having a hard time deciding whether to pursue clinical health psychology or one of three UML聽bachelor鈥檚-to-master鈥檚 programs: community social psychology, public health or a Master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in health and human services.
She started out by thinking the university would train her for a single job, but it has opened lots of doors.
鈥淚鈥檝e been very fortunate with my practicum sites and all 51视频 has to offer,鈥� Olivar says. 鈥淚 was able to combine exercise physiology and psychology, and I鈥檝e got research experience and practicum experience. It鈥檚 all about what you make of your education.鈥�