Author: Elise Lindsey Major: Psychology

In the Fall of 2020, I began running my honors research project in Dr. Ellen Leen-Feldner’s PETAL lab. I first began my journey with the PETAL lab in Dr. Leen-Feldner’s Abnormal Psychology course in Spring 2019. Dr. Leen-Feldner and Becca Campbell have been invaluable and have guided me every step of the way. After beginning research on the topic in Fall 2019, it was finally time to implement everything I had learned, and learn more along the way. My thesis is researching the relation between sleep quality, distress tolerance, and academic performance. The idea first came about when I wanted to better understand how me and my friends were feeling during stressful semesters, and how this affected our performance in classes. I felt it was important to focus on college students’ wellbeing as they are put through many stressful situations and are expected to succeed. As a pre-medical student, I understand the stress placed on individuals attending college and want to expand the knowledge we have in order to improve treatment for those struggling with sleep or stress in an academic setting.

Through working with a team and individually, I learned a lot about communication and self-motivation. Working on a thesis over the course of 2 years is challenging and time-consuming, but I have found it to be worth it in the end. I have learned that the tasks that require the most work are the most rewarding. I have also learned that research is hard work, where I originally thought you simply came up with an idea and did the study. I never imagined the work put into obtaining grants or IRB approval in order for a study to be run. One of the largest challenges I faced with the thesis was COVID-19, as the study went from completely face-to-face to online in a matter of weeks. The tasks participants were presented were changed, and more research was required before implementation of the study in Fall 2020. My mentors and I worked through the summer to ensure that the study would be ready in time. I applied for research grants, wrote the introduction and methods section of my thesis paper, and created a whole study from scratch with the help of my mentors.

This December, I had the opportunity to enter into an undergraduate research poster competition, where I won second place. I created a poster and presented my study with our hypothesis and preliminary findings. It was extremely rewarding to create a poster based on my research and for others to recognize the study I plan to defend my thesis study in Spring 2021.

The study finished with 212 participants, and Fall 2020 semester GPAs are being recorded as this blog is written. After participants report their GPAs, data collection will be complete and we will be able to analyze it using the RStudio code that was written over the course of the past semester. We hope to finish analyzing data and writing up the thesis by April 2021, and defend the thesis. I plan on graduating in May 2021, and complete a gap year to prepare for Medical School.

I would like to thank Ellen Leen-Feldner and Becca Campbell for the most rewarding and challenging few years of my life. I have learned so much and owe it all to you two.