End of the Year Milestones... with a Twist

While the past several months have brought new and often unforeseen challenges to the University of Washington community, our students have demonstrated tremendous strength, creativity, and resilience. This year, two of our most cherished traditions moved into the virtual world. Both the Undergraduate Honors Poster Session and the Psychology Graduation Celebration are end of the year milestones that mark our students' transitions from psychology majors to alumni.

In late May, members of the 2020 Psychology Honors cohort showcased the results of their research. Honors Program director Dr. Chantel Prat masterfully moved this event to an online forum that allowed for individual student presentations and the opportunity for questions and answers. We congratulate our 18 graduating honors students on this impressive accomplishment: Elizabeth Abel, Yasmeen AlAwadhi, Savannah Cassis, Elaine Currie, Maria Ilac, Jasmine Lee, Yilin Liu, Naomi McQuary, Kristen Pedersen, Cristian Rivera Nales, Macey Schallert, Ally Sowers, Katie Splink, Aleksandra Umanskaya, Betty Wang, Carol Wei, Yongping Zhuang, and Sophie Ziliak. You can read the students' abstracts here in the Honors Poster Session program.

On June 13, the Psychology Graduation Celebration also moved into the virtual realm. Over 300 of our 500 graduating seniors chose to take part in the event that included a welcome from Psychology Department Chair Dr. Cheryl Kaiser, the celebration of students receiving awards and recognitions, and a virtual procession of the graduates. A highlight of the event was a sequence of videotaped student reflections. Students selected to offer reflections on their experiences as UW psychology majors are: Sahian Cruz, Azaria Keys, Alya Khairuzzaman, Daniel Prabahkar, Katie Shieff, Kitty Slocum, Aleksandra Umanskaya, Wan Nur Ardini Batrisyia, and Alexandria Wu. You can view the Graduation Celebration Program here.