Every Tuesday in room BR486, Psychology Club meets after school to talk about habits of the mind and how psychology is used every day.
Psychology Club was brought back this year by Freshman Dahlia Sharleon, and Senior Marisa Vasquez who both love psychology but noticed that the club never met or had any active leaders. This was because the previous team leaders were all seniors so when they graduated, the club had basically just disappeared.
Around December, Sharleon inquired MHS’s AP Psychology teacher, Anne Pember, to ask her where the club was held. Pember replied that it hadn’t met for a few years and offered to reach out to a few of her psychology students to see if they would want to take on a leadership role in the club. Then, Sharleon and Vasquez met and decided to host Psychology club’s first post-hiatus meeting before December vacation.
Sharleon actually took on one of the leadership positions of the club. She spoke about how she didn’t think she’d become a leader within it, and explained that she wanted to “be a part of psychology club because [she] believed that it was interesting”.
Though she was glad to have brought it back, it wasn’t easy for the club to stay afloat.
Recently, due to Vasquez’s absence to go do senior internship, and her graduation, the club has been looking for someone else to fill her spot, and offer guidance for future meetings.
Vasques wasn’t the only person absent. Pember also went on maternity leave soon after their first meetings. However, Rachel Shapiro took over, as she was Pember’s substitutes in March.
At the club, students find themselves learning about psychology in a fun and engaging way. As many of the club members are AP Psychology students, there is a lot of material that the club covers that the class doesn’t. Many of the students who attend are interested in how psychology works and want to learn more than what the college board demands, or are people who had been interested in the class but never got the chance to take it.
The first time Shapiro was introduced to the club, they talked about sleep, and created a presentation on how it affects students. Shapiro spoke about it and said that she believes that “it was very relevant to high school students” which is also what helped to make the club so interesting. “That’s been a major goal of the club,” Shapiro stated, “to do things that are connected to psychology but also are connected to the students”.
The club also hosted a smaller event where they invited students to make stress balls right before midterms. This produced one of the largest crowds that they had seen attend the club and encouraged them plan to host more events like that in the future.
One of the issues Sharleon expressed was that the meetings haven’t been consistent because of snow days, vacations, or lack of staff to ensure that a meeting would be held. Sharleon hopes that “in the future the club will be more consistent”, and that they will eventually have a bigger turnout.
Before the seniors leave once and for all, Sharleon hopes to have one more stress ball or play dough activity to unite the leaving seniors and the rest of the club members who have been together from the start. Hopefully this will bring more people into the club, and help relax students who have yet to take finals!
