Dear Students,
The semester is in full swing and it has been energizing to be in the classroom with you teaching, learning, debating, and on a good day, laughing together. Our chaotic world continues to spin around us and I find myself disoriented at times trying to sort out whether I am supposed to be in a meeting on campus in-person or on Zoom; whether it is balmy outside or about to snow; whether I should be wearing my highest quality mask that makes me feel lightheaded or a lesser one that gapes, but in which I can breathe easily; not to mention trying to track the latest news in Ukraine. February is the shortest month and yet, it often feels like the longest. Even the explicit and joyful invitation to celebrate Black excellence during Black History Month does not always assuage the cold, grayness that February can bring.
Last Spring, the Wharton professor and organizational psychologist, Adam Grant, gave us a name for the pandemic blues – languishing. He noted that languishing is not the same as depression, hopelessness, or burn out, but it is a feeling of aimlessness, joylessness, and stagnation. Harvard epidemiology and biostatistics professor, Tyler J. VanderWeele, offered its antidote – flourishing. Flourishing is a combination of physical and emotional fitness when we experience a sense of purpose, fulfillment and happiness. And, as any good psychology student knows, we are rarely only one or the other of anything. So, I suspect I am not alone when I admit that I am neither languishing nor flourishing, but most days, am somewhere in the middle. It’s a lot these days, for all of us.
After abandoning my remarks detailing the challenges of our shared world (unnecessarily depressing), and then deleting entire paragraphs of hopefulness about all the reasons we have to feel grateful (irritatingly chirpy), I realized I needed an assist. So, I offer you remarks by Amanda Gorman, African-American inaugural poet and award-winning author. Her poem, reprinted below, is from her most recent book, “Call Us What We Carry.” Ms. Gorman’s call for courage, community, and kindness invites us all to flourish. I hope you enjoy it.
Warmly,
Sarah J. Brazaitis, Ph.D.
MA Program Director
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Current Student Profile
Annette Parkins
Annette Parkins is a second-year M.A. student in the Social-Organizational Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. She holds a B.S. in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University. Annette has a deep interest in authentic leadership, transformational coaching and helping people live a purpose-driven life. Annette believes collaboration is a natural part of life and is a powerful voice for the importance of authenticity and wholeness in the workplace as an essential aspect of individual and corporate success. She desires to impact the lives of leaders and youth through coaching and workshops to explore and connect with their authentic selves.
With over 15 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, Annette deeply values developing leadership teams, creating clear communication systems, and managing expectations. She helps to bring leadership, structure, and collaborative processes to organizations through her focus on empathy, accountability, courage and integrity. Her diverse experiences prepare her to work with people at different stages in their career and personal lives to live intentionally with purpose and power.
Annette is currently working on her first book of writings and poetry to be released this year. She proudly hails from Jamaica, W.I. and is passionate about contributing to the growth of consciousness, healing and wholeness in women, youth and communities of color. She is an ordained Prophet in the Prophetic Order of Mar Elijah, under the leadership of Archbishop E. Bernard Jordan. Her hobbies and interests include cooking, sketching, dancing, creating DIY beauty products, spending time with her nieces and nephews, and taking advantage of any opportunity to explore nature.
You can connect with Annette on LinkedIn.
Alumni Profile
Martine Fontaine
Martine Fontaine is a 2021 graduate of the M.A. program in Social-Organizational Psychology. She was born and raised in Reunion Island, a French oversea territory in the Indian Ocean, with the Creole culture as way of life. Martine moved to Montpellier, France after high school to study Clinical Psychology at the University of Paul Valery, where she earned a B.S.
She was introduced to family therapy techniques, system theory, and organizational psychology during her time at ARIEDA, an institution dedicated to the integration and education of hearing impaired children. As the organization was primarily interacting with immigrant families from the region of Maghreb, the cultural differences and stereotypes faced by these families greatly influenced the methods implemented by Martine's team. This, along her own experience as a black woman living in the South of France, compelled her to explore DEI initiatives to improve services and organizational culture in mental health institutions.
Upon her arrival in the United States, Martine started her research career in Dr. Rachel Marsh’s lab at the Columbia Psychiatry Department where she continues to work today as Lab Manager. She oversees operations for neuroimaging research projects examining brain functioning in children with and without OCD, as well as self-regulatory deficits in maternal and children mental health. More recently, Martine has been involved in the COMBO study, investigating how prenatal COVID-19 exposure affects mother and child brain and behavior. Her work also involves exploring structural racism and discrimination, economic marginalization, and other social determinants of health as drivers of maternal mental health inequities.
The S-OP M.A. program helped Martine build organizational development, DEI, and talent acquisition expertise, all of which are crucial in her work. Martine has found satisfaction in leading a diverse group and fostering productive partnerships towards improving mental health in marginalized communities.
In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities such as long distance running, biking and hiking. Martine is also a jazz lover and an avid reader; she particularly enjoys reading about the African diaspora experience around the world.
Feel free to connect with Martine on LinkedIn.
Recommended Readings
I confess that I can never resist an article on roles at work. Those of you in the Group Dynamics course will understand! This article describes how we sometimes take up familial roles in the workplace for good and for ill and offers strategies on what to do about it.
As the Spring semester gets busier, we thought you might appreciate this this tool, recommended by Dr. Marina Field. It offers email templates to help you say "no "in any situation!