The Skyline College Honors Transfer Program recognizes and celebrates current student Anny Gabrielly Moreira Da Silva, who recently received a 2022 Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) All-California Award.
Anny is an excellent student who is majoring in Cognitive Science, works at The Learning Center as an embedded tutor, and comes to Skyline College after moving to the United States from Brazil two years ago.
Anny will be presenting her research project, “Are the Correlations in Myers-Briggs Supported by Empirical Evidence?” on Day 1 of the Undergraduate Symposium of Academic Research Conference (uSOAR), which will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2022 and Thursday, April 28, 2022 from 4:00pm-6:00pm (on both days) in the Skyline College Library. She is completing this project under Psychology Professor Dr. Shaun Perisho.
Learn more about Anny here:
What is your major, and what programs at Skyline College would you like to shout out? (Which programs shaped you into the student you are today?)
I am majoring in cognitive science. When I started studying at Skyline, I was a pre-law major. Thanks to the counseling services, office hours, and tutoring, I was able to embrace my interest in the human mind and choose the right major for me. These resources mostly helped me build the confidence to pursue a STEM major. As an English tutor at the learning center, I was also able to develop my communication skills.
Can you describe your educational journey?
Before I moved from Brazil to the US two years ago, I was in law school. However, instead of focusing on how to apply the law, I would constantly question why the laws are the way they are. This made me discover my passion for investigation and research. During my second semester as a student at Skyline, I was introduced to the cognitive science major. Since then, I’ve been furthering my interest in research through the classes I take.
What research projects from Skyline College are you most proud of?
As an honors student, I’m particularly proud of two projects: 1) the consequences of English as the mono language of academia 2) investigations of the empirical evidence of the Myers-Briggs personality theory. I am attached to these projects because they represent my immigrant perspective and my deep interest in personality theories. As a VP of one of the chapters of Phi Theta Kappa (honors society), I have also collaborated with my peers in writing research on California wildfires, which was awarded the best chapter research in the states of California and Nevada.
How did faculty and staff help you as you did your research?
Before Skyline, research seemed to be beyond my capabilities. When I took the Honors Seminar class, I was told that any research questions that I had were valid as long as I followed the research structure when developing my project. This motivated me to refine my research; after all, I really wanted to find answers to my questions. The professors who mentored me in each of my honors projects made sure to address my concerns and guide me throughout the research process without invalidating my preferences. I’m mostly thankful that such professors pushed me to continue researching even when I hit a wall during the research process.
What research are you working on now, or what would you like to research in the future?
Currently, I am working on organizing my honors research on the (lack of) empirical evidence of the Myers-Briggs personality theory to present at the Undergraduate Symposium of Academic Research. In the future, I would like to continue researching personality theories until I find one that is corroborated by enough evidence.
What were the most important steps you took to start your transfer journey?
Planning ahead! Starting to plan my transfer journey one semester before the transfer applications became available allowed me to have enough time to work on my personal statements. Also, because I started early, I was able to get help from counselors and professors on what to include in my transfer application. Keeping an eye out for emails from the honors project coordinators about transfer resources also helped me get into transfer assistance programs at the universities that I applied for.
What valuable piece of advice do you have for current and future transfer students?
As overwhelming as a college student’s life may seem, embrace as many opportunities as you can. Having a college experience filled with extracurriculars and research helps with identifying your interests and building your confidence. Also, if you can, work on campus. Being part of a community that prioritizes growth can help you become an agent of change.
What do you want to do as a career, and why?
After I obtain my degree in cognitive science, I want to work as a user experience researcher. This means that I will be the person who guarantees that people’s expectations about how to navigate a website are being met. Combining my passion for research with my inquisitive nature, I believe that I can help make websites more user-friendly.
If you are interested in joining the Honors Transfer Program, you can find the application and other important program links on our Linktree. Students have until Week 5 of each semester to apply to become an Honors Transfer student for the current semester. For more information, please email English Faculty member and Honors Transfer Program Faculty Program Coordinator, Janice Sapigao at sapigaoj@smccd.edu
Article by Janice Sapigao | Photo provided by Anny Gabrielly Moreira Da Silva