Student Spotlight: Katie Browning

Psychology, Class of 2014 Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska Fun Fact: Katie was born in Germany.

Katie lived the early globe-trotting life of a typical military family. She was born in Germany, later moved to North Carolina, and eventually landed in Alaska (although, after her father retired from the army, the family moved one last time across Anchorage).

After such a rootless youth, Katie was more than ready to remain in Anchorage for college. "I looked at places Outside," she said, mentioning the strong pull of University of Oregon (the alma mater of both her parents),"but I decided I moved around a lot when I was younger and it was time to just stay in one place for a little while. I thought about coming to UAA for two years and then transferring, but I kind of liked it here," she laughed. "So I stayed."

The Department of Psychology played a major role in getting Katie to reconsider her transfer plans. "I met a lot of friends and a lot of really nice professors," she explained. "I wanted to go to grad school and I thought if I put down roots here and I can get some great recommendations it will really help me in my future."

Even though she stayed in town, Katie did leave for college-she moved out of the house and into a campus residence hall for her first year at UAA, a decision that further solidified her connection to campus and made it even more difficult to consider leaving.

ASL at UAA

Katie's academic focus at UAA has been a mix of the intended and the unexpected. She was always interested in psychology, and an introductory course in the department assured her convictions. However it was her elective classes, and not her psychology major, that led to her calling on campus.

"I needed to take a humanities credit and Sign Language fell into that," she said of the class that has most influenced her time at UAA. "I got involved in the class and I fell in love with it." She immediately moved on to Level 2. Then 3, then 4. Although she maxed out UAA's options for American Sign Language (ASL) classes, she's remained heavily involved through the ASL Club. Katie has been a member of the American Sign Language (ASL) Club for five semesters and served as club president throughout her senior year.

As president, Katie makes sure the ASL community stays strong at UAA. Their signature event is Deaf Coffee, held every Friday in the Social Sciences Building. "It's a really relaxed environment to come and practice sign language," Katie explained of the weekly event. There are no set objectives, giving participants a freeform environment to hone their ASL skills. "We have some of our Deaf tutors show up and they chat, play games, practice, study for tests, whatever wants to be done," Katie said.

It hasn't been easy building up the ASL Club to its current state. The club has endured booms and busts of student enthusiasm, and only students seeking a bachelor's degree in languages (and only those on a dual language track) can pursue ASL as part of their degree. There is no minor in ASL available, meaning many students sign up for ASL 1 and 2 to fill their two humanities requirements and few move on after those two semesters. "I've taken all the classes I can take here," Katie admitted.

"It's hard," she said, "but in the past couple of years some people have worked really hard to get the club cemented into the university." Since every semester brings a wave of new students from the introductory courses, there's always potential a new student will fall in love with ASL the way Katie did in her introductory course.

Studying psychology

Her dedication to ASL Club extends to the psychology department as well. She enrolled in a research methods class last semester, where she studied narcissism in social media. Upon her professor's suggestion, she took her research out of the classroom and submitted it to the Behavioral Sciences Conference of the North (BSCN), held on campus at UAA. "My professor contacted me and said 'You know, you should really enter your study into this. It would really look great for you and I will be behind you every step of the way,'" Katie said. The conference selected Katie's project and she presented with her research partner at BSCN on Saturday, April 19th.

Katie admits time and resources limited the scope of her undergraduate project, but it's easy to see her ambition will carry over into graduate school. Commencement won't be the end of her education, and BSCN probably won't be her last conference. Once summer rolls around, Katie hopes to find a job in Anchorage in line with her degree. She'll gain a year of work experience, as well as a little breathing room to focus on her graduate applications for clinical psychology. She may even be back at UAA for her master's: "There's a really good program here," she said.

Down the road, Katie's options are open and optimistic. Whether she ends up on a clinical staff or in private practice, she knows her ASL fluency will help her succeed both in her career and in her drive to help others.

Earning honors

Thanks to her ASL efforts and psychology successes, Katie will earn Leadership Honors at this year's commencement. The special recognition awards students for their dual success in both individual academics and campus contributions. To qualify, applicants submit a personal essay and three recommendations from UAA faculty and staff. Their application then goes to a judging panel organized by the Dean of Students, who grants Leadership Honors to top-notch students at commencement. Katie's efforts in building and bolstering the ASL Club, coupled with her academic achievement, qualified her for such a major recognition from the university.

After so much personal investment in ASL Club, Katie admits it will be a little strange stepping back from both the club and the campus after graduation. She says she'll miss campus life, an understandable statement from such an involved student. "It's going to be a really dramatic change for me to not be on campus and not go to all the fun events and see all my friends who are here," she said. In a way, she's packing up and moving out yet again-"I basically live in [the SSB] building right now," she laughed. "I can come here, do my homework and relax, grab a cup of coffee," she said. "It will be weird. Definitely."