Mary Howe ’23, a psychology major with a minor in educational studies, became fascinated with German language and culture through Dickinson. In summer 2022 she participated in a cultural-exchange internship in Germany, where she gave a presentation to German high-schoolers about American stereotypes. She’s also conducting student-faculty research for one of her professors. Below, Howe discusses her favorite class so far, her postgraduation plans and aesthetics of the Dickinson campus.
Hometown:
Brattleboro, Vermont.
Major:
Psychology, with a minor in educational studies.
Clubs and organizations:
Big Brothers-Big Sisters and The Peddler.
Honors/scholarships/awards:
INP summer grant, Psi Chi and Alpha Lambda Delta.
Favorite book:
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.
Favorite movie:
Mamma Mia!
Best thing about my major:
All the psychology professors are knowledgeable about what they teach and have interesting classes. There are also a lot of opportunities to explore this area of study, such as doing research with a professor, joining the Psychology Club or even having one-on-one conversations with the professors.
On choosing Dickinson:
When I was looking at colleges, I was searching for a small liberal-arts school with small class sizes, a study-abroad program and a pretty campus. Dickinson checked off all these boxes. The average class size ranges from five to 30 students, which is great for me because I can get to know my classmates and my professors. Dickinson also encourages all students to study abroad for at least a semester, so the application process is simple, and studying abroad is feasible [in all majors].
As for the last requirement for me: I swear Dickinson looks like it came straight out of a magazine. There are flowers and greenery everywhere. The buildings are pretty modern and aesthetically pleasing. The interior of the dorms is comfortable and spacious. I feel like I am at home when I live on campus during the school year.
Favorite place on campus:
Morgan Field.
Favorite class:
Cookbooks and Culture with Associate Professor of English Siobhan Phillips. I initially took this 100-level English course to fulfill my humanities requirement. However, I ended up enjoying it. I had never thought about cookbooks as analytical pieces of literature, but it turns out that there is so much information you can get out of a cookbook. I also loved this class because my classmates and I were able to make the actual recipes we read and analyzed. Some recipes were better than others, but all of them were fun to make.
Little-known hobby/talent:
I know how to sew clothes with a sewing machine.
About my internship:
I interned with Deutsch Amerikanisches Institute Sachsen, a transatlantic-dialogue organization that promotes cultural exchange between the U.S. and Germany, this summer in Leipzig, Germany. I have taken two years of German at Dickinson and quickly became intrigued by the language and culture. I found this internship through the Career Center, located in Biddle House on campus, and I am grateful I did! During my time in Germany, I was able to practice speaking German, meet locals and explore the city as well as neighboring states such as Munich. I was also able to be involved in a lot of different projects. My favorite project had to be making a presentation on American stereotypes and then presenting it to an 11th-grade English class through a program called “Ask an American.” I made some pretty great connections and I hope to go back someday!
Post-Dickinson plans:
I hope to either travel for a year or go straight to graduate school for organizational or counseling psychology.
As I kid, I wanted to be …
… a hairdresser.
About my research:
I am currently helping Assistant Professor of Psychology Rui Zhang with a couple of his research projects. I am mostly coding at the moment, but I will do more once the coding is finished! I decided to take on this research-assistant position so that I could get more research experience in psychology.
Read more Student Snapshots.
Published December 20, 2022