Meet Our Peer Mentors

2021-2022 Academic Year Peer Mentors

Peer Mentor Application - coming in Spring 2022

Autumn Asher 

Major: Psychology 

My office hours are: 

Tuesdays and Thursdays 11am – 12pm 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is:  

I want to be a mental health counselor. I want to be able to help people grow and become the best versions of themselves.  

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major:  

In the past I have volunteered with people in my community to help others. I will hopefully be able to study abroad over J-term this year.  

My plans after graduation include:  

I want to go to graduate school and get a master’s degree in mental health counseling.  

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was:  

My most memorable moment was when I joined the improv group on campus and met one of my best friends.   

Emma Augustine 

Major: Neuroscience and Health Psychology 

My office hours are: 

Thursday’s 10am-12pm 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is: 

Chemical and cellular levels of function  

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

Psi Chi Honors Society, Peer Mentoring 

My plans after graduation include: 

Attend graduate school at UCONN (University of Connecticut) and pursue a career in surgical neurophysiology! 

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

Getting out of my comfort zone and exposing myself to new things and meeting new people! 

 Kayla Deckert 

Major: Psychology (Mental Health)  

My office hours are: 

Tuesdays 12:30-1:30 and Thursdays 8:30-9:30   

(If these times do not work, email me and we can set up another time) 

Email: kayla.deckert@my.uwrf.edu 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is: 

Mental health and abnormal psychology  

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

Research projects and meeting other psychology majors. 

My plans after graduation include: 

I will be attending graduate school for either therapy or social work.  

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

Being involved is the most important lesson I learned. Doing activities with friends and meeting new people is very important.  

Kiana Gilbraith 

Major: Psychology- emphasis in Mental Health 

My office hours are:  

Monday 11-12 and Wednesday 11-12 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is: 

Child development, testing and diagnosing disabilities.  

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

I have always enjoyed going to the psychology picnic as well as being part of the psychology club.  

My plans after graduation include: 

I hope to continue my education and get into a graduate program in either counseling or Clinical Psychology. 

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

My most memorable moment at UWRF is going to sporting events and participating in sporting events where every seat in the stands is full of the student body supporting their classmates.  

The biggest lesson that UWRF has taught me is:  

The biggest lesson that UWRF has taught me is that if you work hard and put forth the effort into your studies, the professors will help you with any struggle you might encounter. 

Emily Kupka 

Major: Psychology (emphasis in mental health) & Communication Studies  

My office hours are:  

Wednesdays 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is:  

The main areas of interest I have include school, social, and clinical psychology. I also would like to learn more about sport psychology because I feel a background knowledge in this area would help me in my current job of working as a gymnastics coach. 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major:  

Some activities I have participated in related to psychology include being apart of the psychology club, where I now serve as the secretary, along with working as a behavior technician. Through this job, I applied ABA programs (applied behavior analysis) to children diagnosed with Autism.  

My plans after graduation include:  

After graduation, I plan on attending a graduate program for school psychology, in hopes of becoming a school psychologist.  

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was:  

My most memorable lesson that I have learned here at UWRF is the importance of advocating for yourself. Never be afraid to ask questions, get involved, or make mistakes! That is how you learn!  

Sam Lewandowski 

Major: Psychology & Stage and Screen Arts 

My office hours are: 

Monday & Friday 3:00-4:00 

I am available to meet outside of these times by appointment. 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience are: 

Behavioral Stats, Sensation and Perception, Memory 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

Psych Club 

My plans after graduation include: 

Attend graduate school to earn a Ph.D. I hope to become a therapist in the future! 

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

Getting involved in clubs and other on campus activities! I think it’s a great way to make new friends and find people with similar interests! 

Emma Lewis 

Major: Psychology with a Mental Health Emphasis 

My Office Hours Are:  

Wednesday: Noon-1 

Friday: Noon-1 

& by Appointment 

My Main Interest in Psychology is:  

Mental Disorders and treating them. I am very interested in PTSD from Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence.  

Worthwhile Activities I Have Participated in Related to My Major:  

When I was in High School I created an annual event in my hometown to raise awareness about mental illness and raise money for NAMI Minnesota. I ended up raising over $10,000 in two years. I also was the virtual speaker at UWRFs “Take Back the Night” in 2020.  

My Plans After Graduation Include:  

Getting my Masters Degree in Social Work and pursuing a career as a therapist that specializes in trauma recovery.  

My most memorable moment/ lesson here at UWRF was:  

My most memorable moment was when I decided to switch majors from Food Science to Psychology. This also correlated with my most important lesson; Freshman year I ended up getting a 1.9 GPA because I was not happy with my major and had no drive to participate in class or try hard with assignments and exams. This caused me to really reflect on what I wanted to do in life, and I realized that was helping other people. I went from having a 1.9 GPA in the Food Science program to making the Dean's list once I entered the Psychology program. It doesn’t matter how much money you make doing a job, what matters is if you wake up happy to do it.  

Sidney Peck 

Major: Neuroscience and Psychology 

My office hours are: 

1-2 Wednesday  

2-3 Thursday 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is:  

Plasticity and developmental disorders. Also, my favorite brain area is the amygdala 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major:  

I am a member of the Psych club, and I participate in animal research back in the animal colony lab. My project uses mouse models to investigate the impacts of NMDA receptor inhibition on the strength of the social reward learning critical period. Ask me about it sometime! 

My plans after graduation include:  

Grad school or a post-bacc program are my short-term plans. As for long term plans, I want to be a published researcher and I want to write a book. 

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was:  

The most valuable lesson I learned at UWRF is that more friends = more opportunities 

Grace Petersen 

Major: Psychology & Communication Sciences and Disorders 

My office hours are:  

Wednesdays from 12-2pm  

My main areas of interest in  psychology/neuroscience is: 

Developmental Psychology 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my psychology major: 

I am the Treasurer for Psi Chi (the international honor society in psychology) & the Psychological Sciences Club.   

I also completed a semester long research project in the Fall of 2020 that focused on UWRF Student Stress & Coping during the COVID pandemic.  This was completed within the Advanced Research Methods course with Dr. Melanie Ayres. 

I am a TA this semester for Dr. Ayres’ Advanced Research Methods course. 

My plans after graduation include: 

Working towards becoming a Speech-Language Pathologist & Board-Certified Behavior Analyst.  I hope to work with children, and to specialize in children with Autism.  To achieve this, I will need to attend two Graduate programs to obtain two Masters: one in Speech-Language Pathology and the other in Applied Behavior Analysis. 

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

Take advantage of all your opportunities here on campus, there are so many resources here and people who want to help you!  My four years of undergrad seem to be absolutely flying by (especially when dealing with all of the uncertainty and unprecedented events that COVID-19 have brought into our lives so far, it is hard to believe how fast these past couple of years have gone by!).  So, I encourage you all to take advantage of everything that the university has to offer – don’t be afraid to try new things, say yes to last minute adventures & participate in as much as you can.  You control your college experience, so make the most of it all! 

Carter Peterson 

Major: Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, Psychology 

My office hours are: 

Monday 11-12, Wednesday 10-11 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is: 

My main area of interest is depression along with neuroepigenetics 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

I have participated in research in the Neuro lab, alongside with getting involved in Crisis Text Line 

My plans after graduation include: 

Going to medical school for an MD/PhD with the PhD being in neuroscience  

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

My most memorable moment was watching Dr. Ehlinger and Dr Tubre do a rap battle. My most memorable lesson was in neuroscience when we started discussing the multiple theories associated with mental health it was really eye opening for how little we know! 

Rachel Priester  

Major: General Psychology- minor in Criminology 

My office hours are: 

M&F 12-1pm 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is: 

Anything that is not related to neuroscience, especially if it ties into criminology. 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

Getting to make friends at the department activities.  

My plans after graduation include: 

I plan on taking a year off to work and figure out my path for graduate school.  

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

My most memorable moment while studying was when I studied abroad. I got to travel, learn, and make new friendships all at the same time.  

 Emily Stanze 

Major: Psychology (emphasis: I/O and Mental Health) and minors in Communication and Art 

My office hours are: 

Tuesday & Thursday 12:30-1:30pm 

My main areas of interest in psychology/neuroscience is: 

Why we are the way we are (mixture of personality, development, and environment) 

Worthwhile activities I’ve participated in related to my major: 

Data entry & analysis, a research project, and being a student advocate. 

My plans after graduation include: 

Continuing education through a graduate program. 

My most memorable lesson/moment here at UWRF was: 

If you have a question, someone else probably has the same one – so speak up!