The Psychology Club: the club that gives back

A great way to get involved with your school is to join clubs that allow academic success and community service to go hand in hand to build character, learn and interact with fellow peers. Yuba College’s Psychology Club is focused on giving back to the community and providing a place for people who are interested in Psychology to learn about the field. The main goal for this club is to focus on academic success while participating in events outside of school to reach out to the public to build a better community.
Abiding by their academic motives, the Psychology Club provides an environment for students to comfortably communicate their ideas and endeavors while learning about the field of Psychology. With the help of club advisor, Professor Jensen-Martin, the psychological focus within the group can thrive in order for students to be informed while achieving their career paths. Activities Coordinator Kapri Karcher states, “I want to see everybody find out what they want to do. I want everybody to have a good path. Even if they don’t want to be psychologist or do anything in the psychological field I think that this can help them find out where they want to go, and give them direction.”
Through discussion of documentaries and movies as well as guest speakers, the Psychology Club promotes ways to allow its members to be well-informed of the psychological field. According to Karcher, guest speakers benefit the club so that their stories can help members find out where their interests in the psychological field are as well as encouraging ideas for the future.

 

The club also encourages students to join an honors society, called Psi Beta, for those majoring and minoring in psychology. This society distinguishes students for their academic efforts in psychology, including a minimum GPA requirement and a passing grade in at least one psychology course with a B or higher.

While centralizing on their academics, the Psychology Club is also interested in supporting the community by organizing and participating in events and projects that promote well-being.
In February of 2016, the Psychology Club dedicated their time to participate in feeding the homeless in the event: “14th Homeless One Stop.” The club also participated in the St. Patrick’s Day drinking and driving booth at the Marysville Campus. By using a totaled car, the club truly depicted the consequences of drinking and driving.
In addition to organizing and participating in events to help the community, the Psychology Club has organized a children’s book drive. The club successfully collected a total of about 1,000 books from their own collection, the Marysville Campus, and the Sutter Campus.
Furthermore, the club is focusing on more projects to benefit children in the community. For instance, a member of the club addressed a comment made by one of their peers regarding the Sutter Campus and its lack of a children’s area for play and entertainment. The suggestion was immediately taken into consideration and ideas began to stir.
Club advisor, Professor Jensen-Martin, suggested that a possible donation of coloring activities, toys and books collected from the book drive could benefit children and their caretakers to allow some time for themselves while at the campus. They are considering creating a children’s library as well as an activity area for the Sutter Campus led to the Psychology club’s future toy drive to benefit children in their college community.

 

This year will be the 46th year of a movement that promotes inspiration, ideas and motivation for billions of people to keep the planet thriving. In celebration of Earth Day, Yuba College organized an event that included activities for children such as: Caine’s Arcade Cardboard Challenge Regional Competition, live music, face painting, flower pot decorating and planting. The Psychology Club participated in this Earth Day event by placing a booth for a bake sale. The proceeds will go to the club for future projects to further benefit the community.
On April 30th, the club participated in the Planting A Seed For Children’s Growth for children’s month at the POW/MIA Edgewater park. In the event, the club gathered the books collected from their February children’s book drive and set a booth up for children to pick up any titles that catch their interest. In addition, some members did a face painting booth. Regardless of the windy forecast, the event was nonetheless successful and a joy for parents and children.
With their minds looking above and beyond, the Psychology Club continues to press forward in their efforts to inspire and teach students within the club to proceed their academic goals with confidence and the information they need for a better future while building a better community. President Paige Shelgrove states, “A goal in the future for the club would be providing people a space in which they have academically minded peers so that they feel comfortable when they expressing their concerns about their academic endeavors and concerns about transferring so we’re looking into doing field trips to universities to just better prepare students for not only their education here but their education elsewhere.”
Don’t be driven away by the name of the club if you are not a Psychology major. Shelgrove informs, “We are trying to show that psychology is a multifaceted field. In fact, this club isn’t just open to psychology majors; you don’t even have to be a psychology minor. You just have to have had at least one class at Yuba College. So it’s really for anyone who’s even interested in psychology and feel like they could benefit from learning more about psychology and this field. People interested in psychology can have a place to hang out and help the community.
The Psychology Club meets every first and third Friday of each month in room 201 at the Sutter Campus. If you are a student looking for a club that promotes your community college, this fascinating club is the place for you! Feel free to drop in at club meetings and join the supporting and friendly group that is the Psychology Club.

 

Note: This article can be found in the Summer 2016 issue of The Prospector.