MWCC Professor Shares her Passion for Psychology
By Isabelle Mascary | Observer Contributor
Assistant Professor of Psychology & Human Services Kerrie Griffin has been teaching at the Mount since 2008. Her greatest passions involve socialization, advising, and helping her students grow, often drawing on her own experiences to do so.
Griffin attended the University of New Hampshire, where she obtained an undergraduate degree in psychology and a graduate degree in counseling. “I went back for a second degree because I was comfortable there and had such a great undergraduate experience,” she shared.
Some courses she has taught at the Mount include Intro to Psychology, Psychology of the Self, Psychology of Death and Dying, and Human Growth and Development — all of which she has a personal tie to. “I took most of the courses that I am teaching now!” she explained. “I’m not sure if taking them impacted how I teach, since most of the courses were taken over 10 years before I started teaching. But I do think about what made my classes most memorable, what my favorite classes were and why, and try to approach the classroom in similar ways. So I took away more about teaching styles that I liked, and I try to incorporate those.”
What she likes most about her profession is witnessing the development of her students. “I like interacting with students,” said Griffin. “I like seeing students grow throughout their time here and go from maybe not the most confident student in the world to really enjoying certain classes and coming out of their shell a little bit.”
According to Griffin, psychology plays an important role in higher education, with all majors requiring a behavioral social science elective. This allows students to dip into a psychology class and explore the subject without total investment. “Intro to psychology provides a framework for students to figure out whether they are interested in doing more in psychology,” she explained. “And you can apply it to your own life. Everyone can gain something,”
To further elaborate, she added, “We may be caregivers or [we’re] going to be caregivers. We were adolescents or teenagers. Some people have babies, or they’re planning on having babies. It’s nice to see that they can tell each other stories, and they can go into the world and see concepts where: yes, you have to learn the term, but you can see them happening and unfolding in real life.”
Griffin’s classes also encompass discussions on challenging topics, including mental health issues such as suicide. “In Psychology of the Self, there is a QPR suicide prevention training that the school offered. I’ve had the college counselor come in and do that training with my students.” The QPR training—which stands for Question, Persuade, Refer—teaches students how to identify, comprehend, and effectively engage with individuals who may be having suicidal thoughts.
Griffin explained that one of the repercussions of COVID-19 was an increased rate of suicide, especially for college-age individuals, making it easy to see why training for suicide prevention is important. QPR training is accessible both on campus and online and is spearheaded by the Mount’s counselor, Melissa Manzi. While Griffin holds a degree in counseling, it’s not a part of her current role. She appreciates the flexibility that lets her complete much of her work—including preparation and grading—from home. “I am lucky to have flexibility in my job which allows me time for the important things like getting to soccer games, having the summers ‘off,’ and taking weekends away,” said Griffin.
Reflecting on some of the challenges of the job, she shared that one of the major obstacles is, “getting students to show up and complete their work in a timely manner.” She understands and empathizes with the fact that students have a lot on their plate, whether that means juggling the demands of school, work, and other responsibilities, or dealing with a lack of access to transportation and other vital resources. “Social support and access to resources both on and off campus are important for student success, as they can often help with these roadblocks,” she said.
Aside from teaching, Griffin loves being outdoors and in nature, spending time with her family, traveling, and keeping active. “I’m a central Mass girl,” she explained. “Life for me is being a soccer mom; I spend a lot of time on the soccer field. I have one daughter, and she is very much into soccer. I like being active; I like going for walks and hiking. And I love traveling. I try to travel any chance I can get, whether it’s just an hour or two outside of where we are, or on an airplane somewhere far away with white sand and blue water.”
Griffin offered some final advice for students, highlighting: “Organization is key to success. Keeping some sort of planner, whether it’s digital or not, and communication with your instructors is important.” She also emphasized the significance of self-care, stating, “Taking time to care for yourself outside of school is going to be key to being successful because if you let that part go, your health will go. Your stress levels will increase. You’ll make bad decisions. Get sleep,” said Griffin. “Take a break.”
Comments are closed.