Hi there! My name is Jennifer Fayard and I am ARP’s graduate student representative for the 2008-2009 year. I am a third year graduate student at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and I work with Brent Roberts on outlining the emotional components of conscientiousness with particular emphasis on self-conscious emotions.

I have always loved both science and art; I spent equal time as a kid reading the medical books about rare diseases that my mom would bring home from work, and painting, drawing, crafting… anything artsy. My fascination with science transformed into a fascination with psychology after I took a high school psychology course during my senior year of high school. When I applied to college, I was accepted to Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama (also my hometown) as a psychology major. However, on the cusp of entering college, feeling (as many incoming freshmen do) that I had to decide the course of the rest of my life at that precise moment, I found myself torn between satisfying my curious, academic side and my creative side. At the last minute, I changed my major to graphic design because it seemed like the “fun” choice¹.

My first semester as a graphic design student was not what I thought it would be. Evaluations of our work were very subjective and I found that the enjoyment I got from creating art disappeared when I was forced to create for other people, being restricted by project guidelines. Meanwhile, certain questions started to nag at me: as I transitioned from high school to my freshman year in college, I noticed that several friends seemed to change in ways that I never expected. What would cause people’s personalities to change? Through observations of friends and family, I also started to toy with questions such as “why do some people seem to understand themselves and their emotions more than others?” I wrestled with ideas like these for a few months until I succumbed to the incessant begging of my scientific side and decided once and for all to leave the art department. A psych major friend of mine suggested that I go talk to the department chair about the major, so I hiked up the hill, art project and x-acto knife in hand, to the psychology department. I changed my major back to psychology that very afternoon and have never looked back.

One of the first psychology courses I took was a theories of personality course taught by Nicole Siegfried. I quickly began to realize that this field could help me answer some of the questions I had been struggling with. How amazing! I had previously been unaware that the field of personality psychology existed, so I suppose you could say that this class actually changed the course of my life. I decided then, as a sophomore, that I was to be a personality psychologist.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here so far at UIUC. I am currently working with Brent Roberts on personality development as well as outlining the underlying affective components of conscientiousness. Specifically, I am investigating whether emotions play a role in conscientiousness, what emotions are associated with this trait domain, and how the two interact. I am also particularly interested in self-conscious emotions such as guilt and shame, and the part these emotions may play in the conscientiousness-health association.

On a personal note, I am married and have two great cats, Flint and Fatty Bolger, and I am an avid baker, hiker, and traveler. As always, I try to balance my academic activities with an art project or two! I look forward to serving you this year; please let me know how I can help you get the most out of ARP!

¹ However, I must have been temporarily deluded… what could be more fun than psychology?!