Feller Center Creates New Network to Help PSYC Students Connect with Alumni
Students in the Department of Psychology (PSYC) have a new outlet for connecting with career professionals.
The Feller Center for Advising and Career Planning recently established a PSYC Alumni Career Influencers Network in order to help students connect with alumni in their desired career field.
The Feller Center’s Fishlinger Director of Career Planning, Crystal Sehlke, said that, after working closely with the Department of Psychology and PSYC Advisor Steve Young, the network successfully kicked off during the late fall 2024 semester.
“Our goal was to offer psychology undergraduate majors easy and reliable access to professionals working in their field of interest, to learn more about entry points and marketable skills required to be successful in the field,” she said.
The network currently consists of eight PSYC alumni, aka “PSYC Alumni Career Influencers,” who have shared their knowledge with over 250 psychology undergraduate students via career exploration events, class outreach, and Terrapins Connect connections. Alumni are expected to participate in at least two events for the fall and spring semesters, and do two virtual group check-ins. According to Sehlke, many of the current PSYC Alumni Career Influencers “contributed way more time than this commitment.”
One of the inaugural Career Influencers is Jessi Collins ’05. Collins, who works as psychotherapist in her own private practice, Jessi Collins Therapy, LLC, said that joining the network was a “no brainer.” She said that having access to a similar program would’ve been a valuable asset to her when she was an undergraduate, but that UMD still left a massive impact on her—and that she sees her role in the network as her chance to give back.
“The fact that BSOS, The Feller Center and the Department of Psychology are taking such a devoted interest in connecting current students with knowledgeable alumni holds a meaningful place in my heart,” Collins said. “I love speaking and interacting with students. I love being able to correct myths they have about working in the field.”
Psychotherapist Michaela Henderson, ’20, is also a Career Influencer and owner of her own private practice. Henderson said she has enjoyed the chance to better understand and talk about the diversity of careers that can come from having a degree in psychology; In fact, a highlight of her participation in the network includes having participated in a career panel on becoming a psychotherapist, during which no single story on the panel was identical.
“If you don’t know just yet exactly what you want to do, that’s okay! What’s most important is having the willingness to make a plan, ask questions, use your resources, and lean on your advisors,” she said.
Collins said that her hope for the network is that it will continue to grow and provide PSYC Terps with information that allows them to make informed decisions as they graduate. The Feller Center agrees, and hopes that the network will expand to reach even more students during the 2025-2026 academic year.
Interested students can get involved with the PSYC Alumni Career Influencers Network at fellercenter.umd.edu/psyc-network.
Featured in the main photo, from left to right: Crystal Sehlke, Isabel Wilder, Anthony Sartori, Steve Young, Hayley Kantziper, Michaela Henderson, Jessi Collins and Zenab Raheem Abubakari.
Published on Fri, Mar 28, 2025 - 9:50AM