Inside the Life of a UBC Psychology Alumini – Deanna Cann (#5)

These series of articles are going to be based upon interviews with psychology students and alumni, we’ll be asking these students about their courses, what they like and dislike, how to succeed, and career information. For anyone currently considering, or actually studying, psychology these will be very helpful! Let us know what you would asking for future interviews in the comments!

Let me introduce our next interviewee. She is Deanna Cann, and she’s a former psychology student of UBC in the Vancouver Campus. She was heavily involved and was a top student.

Today, we get the pleasure of reconnecting with Deanna and getting her to share her experience

Hey Deanna, you were a top student at UBC in the Psychology Honours Program. Could you tell us a bit about how that experience was like? 

I really enjoyed the time I spend at UBC. I did the psychology honours program, which was very challenging, but prepared me well for grad school and further research. I did head straight into a clinical psych PhD. program after I graduated, but have recently discovered that my long-term career goals line up much better with a different degree, so I’ve actually switched to a Criminology program.

While you were at UBC, what did you specialize in? and what career goal(s) did you have in mind?

When I was at UBC I was very interested in research on human sexuality, and did some work with Dr. Gorzalka in his Sexual Psychophysiology lab. At that point, my goals were to earn a PhD. in clinical psychology and work with sexual offenders in the criminal justice system.

How would you say the program was at UBC and the cost?

University is expensive and UBC is certainly no exception! While it is certainly possible to find less expensive options to earn your degree, it is important to realize that you likely are getting the best bang for your buck at UBC, especially if you plan on carrying on to a graduate program afterward. The degree requirements and opportunities available in the department definitely give you a leg up when you apply to grad school or a job.

What advice would you give to aspiring psychology students?

Although it may seem daunting, put in the effort and really do the research to try and decide early on what your long-term career goals are. The sooner you figure that out, the earlier you can start preparing! One of the most helpful things I have done (even recently) was to search for job ads for careers I was interested in. Take a look at the required education to see what kind of degree you’ll need, but also pay attention to other details given – you can learn a lot that way!

What was your favourite course and how was Dr. Assanand?

It’s a coin toss for my favourite course – either Psychology of Human Sexuality with Dr. Winters, or Psych of Gender with Dr. Assanand. The human sexuality course is just super fascinating, it covers a lot of basic “sex-ed” info, but also recent research on paraphilias and all sorts of fun stuff, and Dr. Winters always kept things very entertaining. I liked Dr. Assanand’s course partly because the material was so interesting and very very relevant to everyday real life issues, but also because it was probably the most well taught course I have even taken to date. Dr. Assanand’s teaching philosophy and methods were near perfection in my mind. She was always very clear about what students were expected to learn, and presented material in a way that encouraged critical thinking and discussion. The course also included great hands-on learning opportunities. It was clear that Dr. Assanand cared about her students’ learning and put in a great deal of effort to foster it.

What do you do now?

Like I mentioned previously, I have recently switched tracks, and began a new program working toward a PhD. in Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina.

What would you have done differently?

The only thing I can really think of that I would have done differently was to be more involved in other activities on campus. I was involved with a lot of academic-related things in the psych department (which is definitely a good thing), but I wish I made time for other fun clubs or groups. After all, you only get to do it once, so you might as well try to have as much fun as possible!

What would you advise for students who want to pursue a similar career goals as you?

Well, regardless of your specific career goal, figure out exactly what degree you need and look into LOTS of options for that. Programs really vary from one school to the next, and its important to find the one that best suites you. But, if grad school in psychology is your goal, the two pieces of advice I would say are most important are to identify your specific research interests and only apply to researchers that do exactly that work (if you’re going to be doing research for 4+ years, you want it to be on something you truly enjoy)! And, obviously, get as much (and as varied) research experience as possible.

How did you manage your time?

I planned my school-work schedule way, way, way in advance! Each week I would create a to-do list with each tasks due dates and the estimated time it would take, then I’d create a work schedule of exactly what task I would do in what time period, and stuck to it!

For our Psych2Go community who would like to connect with you, where would that be?

Anyone can find me on facebook, or my email is deanna.cann@gmail.com