Over the next few months, we will be posting thoughts from first year faculty on the experiences of their first semester at Belmont.  We hope it will bring back fond memories of your early weeks on campus.

 

Patrick Morse, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Psychological Science

BS Psychology, Elon University (2008)
MS General Experimental Psychology, Villanova University (2011)
PhD Social/Personality Psychology, University of California, Riverside (2016)

The past fall at Belmont is a time I won’t soon forget. Having graduated in June, I hurried my way across the country to start this next chapter of my life, and then I waited (impatiently) a few months for classes to start. As the semester approached, I had the chance to meet more of my colleagues and get to know some of the ins and outs of the university through new faculty orientation and mentoring programs. Each experience helped prepare me for the semester, but the most transformative was witnessing Belmont move-in day. Working in McWhorter I had a front row seat to the singing and cheering and joy associated with welcoming new students. As I watched from my office, I reflected on my own freshmen move-in and realized that my nervous excitement then closely paralleled my feelings as I embarked on my new career. Now, like those years ago, was an opportunity to start a new journey, to build relationships, and to develop personally and professionally. In many ways I was not unlike those new students, excited to give and grow in this community, and I found comfort in knowing we all had a home here at Belmont.