Friday Trip To Drake

Recently Psi Chi and Psychology Club had the pleasure of going to Drake University to meet with their Psi Chi chapter. After making a quick stop at Iowa 80, the world’s largest truck stop, and listening to our new theme song, Convoy, we arrived at the university. During our meeting with Psi Chi members and their advisor, Dr. Klipec, we discussed how expanding the size of our executive board and strengthening the connection between Psi Chi and Psychology Club has really helped our organization improve. We all exchanged ideas about faculty involvement, group cohesion, and increasing participation. The meeting was helpful for both chapters to get new ideas and maintain high levels of motivation.

After the discussions, we attended a presentation by our own Dr. Koeltzow on cocaine-seeking behaviors in rats and the effects of their environment on their likelihood to relapse. We were then given an enlightening tour of the Drake psychology facilities; their rat labs were full of advanced technology and countless gadgets, leaving us a little jealous. To end the day, we went to Jethro’s BBQ with Drake’s Psi Chi to get to know the students more and engage in conversations about graduate school, Psi Chi, and being a psychology major.

Overall, the trip provided our chapter with a sense of cohesion and reminded us of how much we have improved over the past year. With me being the newest member to the team it was a great experience to meet another Psi Chi chapter and to get to know our own executive board a lot better. As our Psi Chi chapter continues to grow, we hope to visit other chapters in the region to exchange ideas and help promote best practices.