Spring 2009 Scholarship Spotlight - Ohlone College Foundation
Aaron Moss
ASOC Leadership Scholarship
“With the increase in tuition from the deficit in California’s funds, and no financial help from FAFSA, this money helps me pay for school and is a tremendous help.”
My intended major is Psychology. My interest developed because I enjoyed learning about psychology and its applications in all the different aspects of one’s life. My psychological education has helped me understand my life better. I started learning Psychology in high school where I was confused and curious about what was happening with me and the other students my age. I could relate the general knowledge that I learned in my Psychology class to what was specifically happening in my life. I believe if more persons had some education in psychology they would have a better understanding, and therefore more control, over their lives.
My interest in psychology has led me to take leadership roles within the field at my school. For two semesters, I was a teacher’s assistant for one of the psychology professors at my college because I wanted to know what it means be a community college professor. After helping grade papers and assisting students to absorb the material, I realized that I enjoy helping others. Those experiences inspired me to become the president of Ohlone’s Psychology Club. I felt it was a great opportunity to informally teach students about what I had learned and talk to students who were as passionate as I am. Before, the club met just to discuss plans for events. The attendees for each meeting were at most eight students. I wanted each meeting to have more of a purpose than to just to plan future events. So I began inciting discussions on interesting topics within psychology. I am a subscriber to Scientific American Mind, so I liked to supplement discussions with articles I found in those magazines. Some of those topics included how we act in social situations, what influences intelligence, and how do our emotions affect who we are. I tried to show the relevance of each discussion to make the importance of the field more apparent. My main goals for the club were to help students be active within their field, to give them the opportunity to show they are passionate about psychology, and to give some knowledge on how the discipline can improve every student’s life even if he or she is not majoring in Psychology. So far, our attrition rate is lower than in previous semesters, so I think that means the club has improved in quality. This semester the Ohlone Psychology Club hosted Michael Shermer to lecture about “Why People Believe Weird Things”, where he talked about how to think critically and how sometimes we may be fooled by false evidence. This was a big success for the club because we sold out the Jackson Theater and the adjacent NUMMI Theater to not just students but members of the community. We were able to promote scientific reasoning to a broad audience, and for that it was the biggest success that the club has had in its history.
I also have been tutoring for the past year. I received my tutoring certificate from Ohlone College in the EDUC-191A&B classes. I was tutoring in the Math Learning Center and the Speech Lab in Hyman Hall last semester. This semester I am a Supplemental Instructor for History 117A with Darren Bardell. I have worked diligently to help other students succeed in their goals. Sometimes I cannot help them, but I try to make sure that someone else can so they get the help they need. I enjoy knowing that what I’ve done may have helped a student pursue knowledge more enthusiastically, or just with a better understand of the material and how to approach it.
My plan is to transfer to UC Berkeley in the fall. With the increase in tuition from the deficit in California’s funds, and no financial help from FAFSA, this money helps me pay for school and is a tremendous help. I believe that I’ve shown my dedication and passion for learning, so I am asking the Ohlone College Foundation to help me financially because I exemplify Ohlone’s mission to produce lifelong learners within the community.
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