Religious Studies

Gabrielle Alter

Class of

2019

My hometown is

Grand Rapids, MI

My major(s):

Religious Studies and Psychology

My minor(s)

Gerontology

I'm involved in:

Works with Alma College Advancement, Alma College Athletics, the Costume Shop assisting to prepare costumes for Theater and Dance productions. 

Student Ministry Coordinator

President of Alma College Hillel

Psychology Teaching Assistant

After I graduate I plan to

Attend a Psy.D. Program and get my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology so that I can hopefully work in hospitals as a clinician.

My favorite place on campus is

The library—I’m not saying where my study spot is!

Some of my favorite professors include

Dr. Kate Blanchard, Dr. Matt Cicci, Dr. Joanne Gilbert, Dr. Brandi Stupica, Professor Tom Batchelder

So far, my favorite class(es) has/have been

PSY 314: Abnormal Psychology

My greatest accomplishment at Alma is

Creating an organization that opened multiple doors to me in the professional sphere that I would have not been able to experience previously.

I'd advise an Alma freshman to

If you are scared or nervous or anything, feel free to ask anyone for help. That sense of community that you see on visiting days is genuine; we want to help people have their best Alma experience possible.

I'd tell a student considering coming to Alma

Do it! Literally, even though everyone says this, Alma is a great place for student coming from a small high school and enjoy the personalized attention and small class sizes.  If you like being a name and not a number, come to Alma.

What I like most about studying at Alma is

The ability to do what I wanted to do in regards to my senior thesis and all of the help that’s available to me throughout my time here. Due to the relationships that I’ve developed with my professors, I do not feel uncomfortable dropping into their office hours or sending them an e-mail when I do not understand what’s going on in class.

My favorite part about living on campus is

The closeness of classes and friends—literally I can wake up fifteen minutes for class and still arrive on time. Everything is so close that the only excuse for not meeting up with someone is that you’re too busy, it’s freezing outside, or you’re in class.

I went to

I studied abroad in the Fall of 2017 at the University of Aberdeen in Aberdeen, Scotland. Making that decision was one of the best ones that I’ve ever made because it exposed me to a culture that is similar to the one in the United States, but different enough that I found myself checking myself more often than not. To be able to study in a different country is something that I doubt I would have chosen, had I not gone to Alma. I also got the opportunity to live and travel by myself for the first time in my adult life. Going abroad taught me about what I really am capable of and helped me grow.