Introduction to a Scatterbrain

Hello! I suck when it comes to talking about myself, so I am going to heavily rely on the prompt for inspiration. It is probably safe to say that this is going to be a typical, by-the-textbook introduction.

"A sorority-girl on a sorority retreat 

wearing a sorority t-shirt and 

making a sorority hand symbol" aka 

"She couldn't find a good non-selfie"

My name is Erica Cummings, I am 20 years old, and I am from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. I graduated from Carl Albert High School in 2015, so there's that. I like many different genres of music, so I won't even try to narrow down my favorites. I am in a sorority for women in technical majors called Alpha Sigma Kappa. We are on the Independent Greek Council, so you probably haven't heard of us (we are small compared to Panhellenic sororities). I don't play any instruments, so I guess that makes me a little boring, but I did competitively dance for 10 years from ages 3 to 13. I will go ahead and claim dance as the sport of my childhood, even if you don't want to call it a sport. When I stopped dancing, I abandoned athleticism. Sweating is gross! Who knew? Okay so maybe that isn't the full story, but still, sweating is gross.

More relevantly, my major is psychology. Initially, I was majoring in civil engineering, but I quickly found out that I hate physics (more like I was awful at it). Without physics, any structure I would engineer would be doomed to fail... so I changed to a less physics-oriented major. This decision was not only in my own best interest, but the best interest of the world at large.

The best thing about studying psychology is that you mostly just need to know things (is that weird to say?). There are few calculations to be made... absolutely no physics involved either. As long as I read and know the material, I am solid. With the knowledge I have obtained from the material, I can make better inferences about other people's state of being too. There is no formula for exploring the mind.

Studying psychology also allows me to practice my writing skills. There is quite a bit of writing in psychology, just like any other social science course. Because there is a research element to it, however, the most common writing style for psychology is APA style. Usually, this is a straight forward scientific paper with no room for fancy word or frills. Fortunately, with this major I have room to take classes like this one that allow me to spread my literary wings a bit.

Overall, the best class I have taken within my major studies has to be abnormal psychology, which I took last semester. This class was full of great information and really pertained to my career interests. I want to be a clinical psychologist, so it is important I am familiar with what could potentially go wrong with one's psyche. It took me deeper into areas of abnormal psychology with which I was already familiar and introduced me to some concepts with which I was totally unfamiliar. I also really enjoyed the professor who instructed the course. If you are a psychology major and need an upper-division credit, I would totally recommend taking abnormal psychology with Dr. Carol Terry!

On a more personal note, I guess I could talk about my likes and dislikes. To be quite frank, there are a lot of things I dislike. For example, I really dislike brussel sprouts. They are gross no matter how much salt and pepper or other seasonings you put on them. There is no hiding that awful bitter taste. On a more positive note, I love asparagus. I guess one could say that brussel sprouts and asparagus are two gross veggies on a double edged sword. Perhaps that is true. But I am here to advocate for the taste of asparagus once it is nicely grilled with lots of salt.

More seriously, I would label myself a "left-wing liberal" if we are going to talk politics. I would also say that I am an intersectional feminist. Probably the only close-minded thing about myself is that I do not have any tolerance for people who do not believe in equal rights for all (yes, I am including healthcare as a right). I do not have the time nor the patience to deal with those who will only argue in circles. I like a good healthy debate, don't get me wrong, but I won't participate in a screaming match. I'll save my voice for rallies, marches, and parades, thank you.

So there you have it! A fragmented introduction for a fragmented woman.