Alumni Spotlight: Kay Rusch
Kay Rusch (she/her)
- Major: PSY BS (Spring 2022)
- Position: Introductory Economics Center Administrator
- Employer: Stanford University Economics Department
What is your work like? What are your duties?
I help run the ECON 1: Principles of Economics course. I help the instructor supervise the teaching assistants, make sure the course runs smoothly in Canvas, and help our students enroll, take exams, request regrades, and coordinate disability accommodations in the classroom.
How would you say your psychology degree has helped you with your current job?
My psychology degree has helped me a lot in my current role! Working with students, I often have to tread the line between doing all I can to advocate for them while also abiding by all of the university's rules and regulations. As such, I have to be the bearer of bad news in many situations. My psych degree has helped me communicate clearly but empathetically.
In what way has your major complemented your current job?
Being a psychology major in an Economics Department has enabled me to bring a unique and more compassionate perspective when I interact with students and faculty.
How did you find your current position?
After a lot of searching (and I mean a lot), I applied to my initial position with the Econ Department through LinkedIn. When the IEC Admin before me took a job in a new department, I applied for her role.
What advice do you have for our current psych students and recent grads?
Don't be afraid to take a chance on something that interests you!
I changed my major junior year because my current one wasn't working for me. I picked psychology because I was minoring in it at the time and really loved the classes I had taken that semester. I wound up loving my psychology major much more than my old major. I took that step and have never looked back.
I didn't know what field I wanted to go into after graduation, but I liked my student job at the Office of Admissions, so I applied for jobs in higher education. Even now that I'm working in a higher education role, I am always deciding which parts I enjoy the most, so I know what to focus on for the future.
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