“Psychology is, perhaps, the oldest science, and, unfortunately, in its most essential features, a forgotten science,” says renowed Russian philosopher P.D. Ouspensky.
The Psychology Honor Society embodies this tenet as it is a fairly new society offered at Landstown High School sponsored by Mr. Bolling to further educate its members on psychology and spread awareness to keep it from being a science that is looked down upon.
Mental health is a major issue that students face nowadays and prompts some students to take an interest in psychology. The Psychology Honor Society (Psi Alpha) enforces students’ knowledge and piques their career choices of this social science. This honor society is both socially conscious and beneficial to help our current society, which struggles with their overall well-being.
From growing interest by the students in AP Psychology and Psychology I & II, Mr. Bolling, Landstown High School’s only Psychology teacher, was encouraged by the lack of Psi Alpha societies in Virginia to allow Landstown to make a groundbreaking mark in today’s world by starting one of his own.
“Some students had shown interest in starting a charter here at Landstown, and I looked up the organization, and I saw that not only in Virginia Beach where there are no Psi Alpha honor societies,” he states, “And so I thought it’d be pretty groundbreaking, for lack of a better word, to start a Psi Alpha society here.”
This year, the student officers of Psi Alpha are focusing on making the society better known through activities and meetings to further this cause.
But what exactly is the goal of Psi Alpha, and how will the officers achieve this?
Miku McSwain, the Senior President of Psi Alpha, states, “The goal is to give a place for those interested in psychology to engage with their other peers [and] we achieve this by creating a friendly environment for everyone to engage in.”
Similarly, Marissa Mendigorin, the Junior Vice President of Psi Alpha, states, “The overall goal is to promote psychology to students who are potentially interested in pursuing a career in this field […] however, we also hope to foster interest in people who are trying to figure out what they want to do in the future.”
Compared to last year’s involvement, the officers hope to host more events and fundraisers to get the society going.
“Hopefully, this year we’ll get to hold more events and fundraisers to better promote this club. Last year we didn’t get to do much due to unfortunate circumstances, but we really want to try getting this club up and running,” Mendigorin says.
Psi Alpha also has plans to participate in this year’s Winterfest where other Landstown honor societies and clubs come together to raise funds for their clubs through activities.
“We again do like the mental health kind of awareness activities, but we’re also thinking about maybe doing an activity like Winterfest this year and maybe engaging like other clubs too,” says McSwain.
Aside from the outside benefits of joining Psi Alpha, the lasting impact it leaves on its members broadens their interest in psychology to continue pursuing the science at the college level, benefiting our current society that struggles with mental health.
