Lauren Mark

I love kids and I've always worked with kids and teens. At first, I wanted to be a counselor or clinical psychologist, which meant I needed to go to grad school. Yet, after getting my Bachelors in Psychology, I wasn't quite ready for that. I had also taken some courses in Japanese while in college, so I decided to try teaching English in Japan for a while. I went there to enjoy Japan, but also realized I enjoyed teaching as well. That actually started me on my teaching path.

I really wanted to find a career that would incorporate my love for students and teaching and my interest in Psychology. I originally thought I could become a school counselor through the Educational Psychology program, but I found that the program focuses more on theoretical foundations for teaching educators at the College/University level. I realized that a degree in this program really opened up a number of options for me, and I am very grateful to my classmates and teachers who inspired me to apply for the PhD program.

I had originally wanted to be a school counselor, so I wanted to incorporate a behavioral aspect into my thesis. I knew cyberbullying was becoming a major issue on the mainland, where students were resorting to drastic measures over messages they received over the Internet via email or on sites such as MySpace. There's a sense of anonymity on the Internet and that affects how kids act and respond to cyberbullying. For my study, I wanted to know what cyberbullying was like in Hawaii. Thanh Truc T. Nguyen, an instructor at our laboratory school was also interested in this area; she became a great resource, pointing me to materials and helping me to collect my data.

I'm just taking one day at a time. When I started, very few of us knew exactly what we were going to do with our degrees. I still think about finding a career in the area of counseling; a friend of mine from the program is currently working as a counselor. Some graduates are already school teachers and are in the program for professional development. What I really hope to do is raise awareness about cyberbullying among educators and students and possibly creating curriculum or programs aimed at helping students become responsible online citizens.

I've really enjoyed my experience in the Ed Psych program; faculty are really knowledgeable in their field and staff are really supportive. I would say that the program isn't about getting training to do actual counseling, but you do learn about how psychological principles apply to teaching and the field of Education in general. What is great about this field is that it is broad, in a good sense. There are so many options for your thesis or dissertation. You can study what you are interested in, while applying educational psychology theories and principles. The research conducted in the Ed Psych program helps to create awareness of certain educational problems, and assists in preparing and informing teachers.

Born and raised on Oahu and a proud public school graduate, Lauren has experience teaching all ages through teaching in Japan and in four different Hawaii Department of Education schools. She is currently finishing her Master's degree and applying to the Educational Psychology PhD program. As a graduate student, Lauren is teaching EDEP 311, Psychological Foundations of Education. In February, she will be presenting with Thanh Truc T. Nguyen, Ed.D, at the Hawaii Educational Resource Association (HERA) Conference.