From Curiosity to Clarity

Retrospective Reflection

This retrospective reflects the layered journey of my undergraduate experience as an Honors Scholar—an experience shaped by curiosity, complexity, and commitment. Drawing from work in both psychology and religious studies, it illustrates how academic inquiry can lead to personal growth, social engagement, and professional clarity. What follows is a reflection on how my education became a bridge between knowledge and purpose.

Intersections of Mind, Spirit, and Scholarship

As I approach the completion of my undergraduate journey as an Honors Scholar at IU Indianapolis, I find myself reflecting deeply on the transformative power of curiosity, interdisciplinarity, and lived experience. My time in the Honors College has not only refined my intellectual skills and personal identity, but also solidified my future as a researcher dedicated to both psychology and religious studies.

The ePortfolio I have created is not just a collection of academic artifacts—it is a living narrative of growth, inquiry, and purpose. Through courses that pushed the boundaries of tradition, experiences that demanded emotional vulnerability, and projects that embraced cultural complexity, I have become the kind of scholar I once hoped to be: intentional, inquisitive, and deeply attuned to the nuances of human behavior and belief.

The Person I Was, The Scholar I’ve Become

When I first began H200, I was filled with excitement, but unsure of how to fully bring together my dual passions for science and the humanities. Back then, I viewed psychology and religious studies as separate silos—one data-driven, the other abstract and interpretive. What I didn’t yet understand was that the most meaningful learning happens in the overlaps. It was through the Honors College that I began to see these intersections more clearly, and my Showcase Artifact 3, “Healing vs. Cure,” exemplifies this shift.

In that essay, I explored how biomedicine and Ayurvedic principles offer contrasting, yet complementary, views of healing. I also reflected on my own family’s experiences navigating illness through both clinical treatment and spiritual practice. The process of writing this piece challenged me to engage deeply with both academic research and personal narrative—an approach modeled by thinkers like Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, who asserts that “being able to feel safe with other people is probably the single most important aspect of mental health.” This integration of empirical knowledge and emotional truth has become a hallmark of my work and my identity.

Growth Through Interdisciplinary Engagement

One of the most important skills I developed through the Honors College is the ability to synthesize diverse sources of knowledge into a coherent, critical framework. Whether designing a research study in my psychology lab or analyzing sacred texts in a religious studies seminar, I’ve learned how to hold space for complexity and ambiguity. This is directly tied to the Honors Learning Goal of Critical Thinking, which I practiced through collaborative research, interdisciplinary coursework, and leadership roles.

In my research with the Addiction Neuroscience Lab, I explored the impact of early trauma on alcohol self-administration using mouse models. At first, I struggled to reconcile the mechanical precision of this work with the human suffering it aimed to address. But over time, I realized that these experiments were not just about data—they were about compassion. By understanding the biological underpinnings of addiction, we could improve interventions and reduce stigma. My experience as a co-author on this study, which is now being prepared for publication, reflects how I’ve grown as both a scientist and a communicator.

Bridging Research and Human Experience

If the neuroscience lab taught me rigor, my work as a Research Assistant in the Department of Psychology taught me how to listen. In this role, I interviewed participants across different stages of psychosis, an experience that demanded not only technical precision but also emotional intelligence. Through these interviews, I began to see how mental illness is often entangled with religious and cultural beliefs—how someone’s spiritual framework can shape their perception of symptoms and healing.

This realization has directly informed my career goal of pursuing a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a focus on cultural and religious trauma. It has also helped me meet the Honors Learning Goal of Communication: learning how to adapt my language and approach to different audiences, from academic conferences to community conversations. These experiences taught me that communication isn’t just about speaking—it’s about being heard.

Artifacts That Tell a Story of Growth

One of the most transformative artifacts in my ePortfolio is my research project Isolation and Its Psychological Toll: A Deep Dive into Solitary Confinement. This project bridges my academic background in psychology and religious studies with my growing commitment to social justice and prison reform. It challenged me to synthesize psychological research, legal analysis, and ethical theory to interrogate a practice that is often hidden from public view. What began as an academic assignment evolved into a powerful platform for advocacy and critical inquiry. It deepened my understanding of how prolonged isolation affects mental health—causing depression, anxiety, and hallucinations—and how these outcomes raise pressing questions about rehabilitation, dignity, and human rights.

The impact of this project extended far beyond the classroom. While conducting research, I began volunteering at Indiana Women’s Prison—a decision that transformed my intellectual curiosity into lived engagement. Hearing the personal stories of incarcerated individuals added emotional weight and urgency to my work. It pushed me to consider the human faces behind the data and theories. This artifact embodies the Honors Learning Goals of critical thinking, diversity of thought, and lifelong learning. It demonstrates how academic knowledge, when paired with community engagement, can foster deep empathy, ethical responsibility, and the confidence to advocate for change. This experience continues to shape my professional aspirations in research, psychology, and policy reform, grounding my scholarship in both compassion and rigor.

Professors, Theorists, and Texts That Shaped Me

My journey has also been guided by mentors and scholars who modeled intellectual bravery. Dr. Marian Logrip, under whose leadership I conducted neuroscience research, taught me how to approach scientific questions with both precision and heart. In my religious studies courses, Dr. Mathew Condon challenged me to interrogate assumptions about secularism, Islamophobia, and American identity. His scholarship inspired me to think critically about the role of religion in public life and affirmed my desire to do research that bridges academic and lived realities.

Additionally, engaging with thinkers like Friedrich Nietzsche, who wrote, “One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star,” helped me embrace my academic journey as nonlinear, layered, and constantly evolving. His work pushed me to see identity not as fixed, but as something forged through tension, transformation, and creative struggle. In both psychology and religious studies, identity is not static, relational, contextual, and ever-evolving. These insights have made me a more compassionate researcher and a more thoughtful human being.

Perspective Shift: From Student to Scholar

Looking back, my Honors experiences have fundamentally shifted how I view education. I no longer see it as a means to an end, but as a lifelong practice of inquiry, reflection, and transformation. I’ve come to value not just what I learn, but how and why I learn it. This shift reflects the Honors Learning Goal of Lifelong Learning, as I’ve developed the ability to pose questions that matter—questions that don’t always have easy answers.

One of the most significant philosophical changes I’ve experienced is the realization that knowledge must be situated. Whether I’m examining trauma in the brain or spirituality in community rituals, I’ve learned to contextualize my findings within broader systems of power, culture, and history. This kind of situated knowledge is essential in both clinical psychology and religious studies, and it’s what makes me feel prepared to contribute to these fields as a graduate student and eventual academic.

Prepared for What Comes Next

As I prepare to graduate and apply for Ph.D. programs, I carry with me not only research skills and academic accolades, but a deep sense of purpose. The Honors College has given me more than credentials—it has given me the confidence to trust my voice, the courage to pursue interdisciplinary work, and the humility to keep learning from others.

My emerging expertise is defined not by specialization alone, but by synthesis. I am someone who can read a brain scan and a sacred text, who can run a statistical analysis and lead a reflective conversation. This dual fluency is rare—and it’s precisely what the Honors College has nurtured in me. Whether I’m analyzing data or designing community mental health interventions, I will always bring with me the values I’ve honed here: intellectual curiosity, respect for diversity, and a commitment to ethical scholarship.

Closing Reflection: A Scholar Rooted in Complexity

In the words of one of my favorite authors, bell hooks, “Education as the practice of freedom affirms healthy self-esteem in students, even those deemed by society as unworthy of self-love.” I see my Honors education as just that—a practice of freedom. It has affirmed my worth, challenged my assumptions, and rooted me in a community of learners who dare to ask hard questions.

To my fellow students and researchers in psychology and religious studies: let us continue to honor both the mind and the spirit in our work. Let us be brave enough to sit with complexity, curious enough to follow our questions, and humble enough to keep learning from each other. That, to me, is the true legacy of an Honors education.