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Editor's Note: As she approached graduation last May, senior Holly Morris wrote this Thank You letter to Dean Glenn Sharfman, vice president for academic affairs. She has agreed to share it with you.
Dear Dean Sharfman,
Hello, my name is Holly Morris. I wanted to express how thankful I am that I have had the ability to attend Manchester. I have received many opportunities to help me excel in life after Manchester. The faculty and staff are wonderful, the Psychology Department has been exceptional, and I have received much praise during my graduate school interviews on behalf of my Manchester College experiences.
I am extremely grateful for all of the opportunities that Manchester offers its students. Being at a liberal arts college has given me the ability to be well-rounded and open my mind to different types of thinking and solving-problem abilities. I have found that the more knowledge a person has, the better she or he will be able to find solutions to problems, communicate ideas to others, and have general conversations with others.
Studying abroad is another opportunity that sticks out in my mind as being extremely important and places Manchester students ahead of students from other universities. I attended a university in England and will never forget that experience and how I grew from it. Our Success Center is also a huge advantage to Manchester students.
I am sure other universities have similar facilities, but ours is very proactive and works hard to invite students to participate in the different programs they offer. I have received help with my resume and vita revisions, interview advice and practice, and personal statement revisions, to name a few. We also have the opportunity to get one-on-one help from professors, which I realize larger universities cannot offer their students.
The faculty and staff are another reason I am grateful that I chose Manchester. Every professor I have had over the years has been extremely friendly, approachable, and helpful. While being friendly, they are also very professional and challenging. Although I disliked the abundance of presentations we have had to complete in our classes, I realize now how helpful they have been in shaping my public speaking skills. Professors’ positive attitudes and professionalism help keep students’ morale high and also help motivate students to stay focused. I have soft spots in my heart for several teachers who have influenced me throughout the years. A couple of my favorite professors have been those from the Psychology Department.
I am a psychology major and have been greatly influenced by two of my psychology professors, Rusty and Marcie Coulter-Kern. They are a couple of the kindest and most-helpful people I have ever had the pleasure to study under. They have implemented wonderful projects and assignments in their classes, which have helped to affirm topics we had learned from textbooks and lectures. For example, Rusty’s class went to Disney World to learn more about industrial organizational psychology. We read books about behind-the-scenes information and how Disney runs its business. It was extremely interesting to get to witness their practices in person and also receive a “Keys to the Kingdom Tour.” I will never forget this experience and all of the innovative business practices I learned from the Disney company.
Also, the Psychology Department has been extremely helpful in finding a particular group of students interested in industrial organizational (I-O) psychology helpful ways to improve our knowledge in that specific area of psychology. They helped us to attain field placements in order to get practical work and experience in the field. It has greatly helped me to affirm that this is the career path I would like to pursue.
I applied to five different I-O programs around the country and was placed on the waiting list for one and accepted into the other four programs. I have decided to attend Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. I absolutely fell in love with their program and also their professors. At the end of my interview, I was told repeatedly how impressed the I-O faculty at SIUe was in regard to our Psychology Department at Manchester. They offered me an assistantship that will cover all of my graduate school tuition and also award me a monthly stipend.
I could not be more excited about the direction my life is headed and I simply wanted to say thank you very much for giving me the opportunities at MC that have placed me above students from other universities and given me the opportunity to pick from several graduate schools that were interested in me because of the skills I have acquired at Manchester College. I could not be more grateful for the opportunities that Manchester College has awarded me.
Thank you very much,
Holly Morris ’12 |
