During the discussion of the first presentation, I was affected by Leticia’s story of how her daughter was told by a college counselor that she should change her major from math to psychology. I was affected by the story for several reasons. First, I was also told by a college faculty counselor that I was not fit for graduate school and was about to drop out of college. Second, psychology is a STEM discipline and we should celebrate people of diverse backgrounds choosing it as a major. I was surprised to find out it is viewed as anything less that other STEM fields. Although it is outrageous that a young girl was told that she should choose psychology because she was perceived to be not good at math, I think that the counselors sending students from underrepresented backgrounds to major in psychology are doing a favor to our discipline.

Christy Byrd’s presentation made me realize that I already incorporate many strategies in my teaching that would increase the students’ sense of belonging. What I particularly liked was her idea to ask the students “what is important for me to know about you?” Next semester I will definitely incorporate this question into student introductions in my classes.