For many students, earning a bachelor’s degree is not where the road ends in their higher education journey. Some decide to continue their college careers and pursue a master’s degree, and psychology student Tyra Jones happens to be one of these students.
Jones, a Florida A&M University graduate student, became a Rattler back in 2018 where she pursued her bachelor’s in psychology. After graduating in the spring of 2022, Jones decided to continue her education at FAMU, seeking to gain her master’s in community psychology.
Jones based this decision on her desire to learn more in her field.
“I decided to come back to FAMU for my master’s to gain a deeper level of knowledge on Black psychology, African history and African culture to build a foundation to my graduate education,” Jones said.
This is a common goal for many graduate students as they seek to increase their knowledge to make them more desirable within their future careers. As stated by northeastern.edu, earning a master’s degree helps you gain specialized knowledge to advance in your field. As the workforce evolves, a graduate degree shows you’re dedicated to enhancing your industry expertise and credibility, thus helping you become more competitive within your field.
Jones seeks to assess and treat mental disorders in the Black community and feels that FAMU’s community psychology program will put her in the best position to do this as it is highly respected for preparing students for professional employment and doctoral level training. However, achieving this goal requires a lot of time and effort, and Jones can attest to this.
“I’m pretty busy in graduate school because I also have a part-time job as a graduate assistant, so when I’m not working, I am either reading or writing for my own classes,” Jones said. “The workload in the CP program can be overwhelming if you don’t have a strategy and if you don’t work with your cohort.”
According to usnews.com, although undergraduate classes can be challenging, in most cases, graduate classes are harder as they tend to cover more material in a shorter period of time. But despite any of the difficulties that come with graduate school, Jones says that FAMU’s professors are to thank for helping her get through the rough patches.
“The best part about FAMU’s CP program is the support from professors,” Jones said. “Even outside of schoolwork, most professors make themselves available for whatever you need even if they have a full plate.”
It is safe to say that Jones stands tall in her decision to pursue her master’s at FAMU as she shared that it was the best commitment she’s made since she began her college career. Jones is expected to graduate in the spring of 2024 and looks forward to seeing how much more she will learn as the years go on.