During her time at Douglass, Tyshana Campbell DRC’22, a psychology major and Africana studies minor, has explored many of the opportunities the College has to offer. This has helped her to discover exciting new interests and plan her ambitious future—all while amassing quite an impressive resume.
Through the Bold Empower program, an initiative for first-generation Douglass students, Campbell participated in an externship with the Rutgers basketball team as only a first-year student. This later led to another opportunity with the Rutgers football team. Campbell credits the program with helping her to build a supportive community and explore potential academic paths.
“The program offered me the opportunity to gain friends and figure myself out academically. It provided me with numerous resources such as mentors, externship opportunities, and scholarships,” says Campbell. “It definitely helped shape me into the woman I am today.”
In addition to her participation in the program, Campbell is involved in many other groups across campus. She is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Ambassador, a Peer Mentor under Student Support Services, and a member of Project SUPER, a STEM-focused enrichment program that offers Douglass women the opportunity to actively participate in academic research. Through this program, Campbell has discovered how much she enjoys conducting research, and she now works as a research assistant under Dr. Lori Hoggard in the Racism, Identity, Coping, and Health (RICH) Lab in the Department of Psychology.
“Being able to be a part of Project SUPER and conducting research was something I never even thought about. However, it was a stepping-stone for me to find research that interested me,” Campbell shares.
Following her graduation in 2022, Campbell plans to attend graduate school to pursue her dream of becoming a sports psychologist. Sports psychology is a field of mental health services that focuses on helping athletes compete at the highest level. Since the major is not offered at Rutgers, Tyshana’s initiative, combined with her ambition for designing her own college experience, is charting her own unique academic path toward achieving her dream.
She advises her Douglass peers to use their time at the College for self-discovery, much like she has. “You just have to put yourself out there because you never know what may be meant for you.”
