In Their Words: Beverly Iniguez Conrique

Beverly Iniguez Conrique presented her research findings earlier this quarter at an undergraduate research conference hosted at Stanford University

Beverly Iniguez Conrique, a student in the division's Psychology Department, received the Deans' and Chancellor’s Undergraduate Awards for her research "Social Dominance Orientation’s Effects on Attitudes Towards Crime, Prisoners, and Prison Reform.”
 
Major: Psychology
 
What Award/ Scholarship did you receive? Dean’s and Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards
 
Graduation year: Class of 2016
 
College: Cowell
 
Where do you call home? Tarzana, Los Angeles, CA
 
With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out? UCSC had been my first choice university for a few years before applying to college. Being from a big city, I was excited at the prospect of being at a school that was surrounded by nature and was only a short bus ride away from the beach. Once I looked into its programs and what UCSC had to offer in terms of academics, it also seemed like a wonderful fit and somewhere I could flourish. When I visited the campus, I instantly fell in love and immediately felt at home. Four years later, I can’t imagine having gone somewhere else!
 
What is your field of focus? Applied social psychology as it relates to the criminal justice system
 
What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz? After graduation I will remain in the Santa Cruz area and work for a non-profit organization named ETR. I will assist with the organization’s research as a Research Assistant. I am also looking forward to catching up on a lot of books I’ve been wanting to read. The Rebublic by Plato, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, and My Beloved World by Sonia Sotomayor are some books on the top of my list.

Thereafter, I plan to continue my education by pursuing a Ph.D. in Psychology and a JD in law. Ultimately, I want to work in academia as a university professor, and hope to conduct applied social psychology research that positively impacts public policy, the legal world, and society.
 
What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here? One time I was leaving my French language class and was walking along McLaughlin Drive. To my right on the other sidewalk, there was a deer getting ready to cross the street. He stopped, very clearly looked both ways, and once he saw no cars were in the street, crossed, got to my sidewalk, and disappeared into the woods. I told that story for weeks after it happened.
 
What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz? I have two equally important pieces of advice. The first is to explore academically. When I began at UCSC, I was a proposed Literature major convinced I wanted to later become a writer. I still love writing and occasionally blog for The Huffington Post, but I’ve truly found my niche in Psychology.  
Additionally, going to your professors’ office hours is really great! It can definitely be a little bit intimidating to speak with a professor you don’t know very well one-on-one, but they are there to help you as a resource. Our UCSC faculty are really intelligent and helpful, so definitely go visit them and seek knowledge from them. They will also learn from you!

How will this scholarship impact your academic life /research? Early in my undergraduate career, I changed my proposed major to Psychology knowing I wanted to take the knowledge I gained from my major in the direction of research. Receiving these awards in a way affirms my love, dedication, and passion for empirical psychological research. It also adds to my hopes of being able to be a great researcher during my graduate career, and afterwards as a professor.

On a smaller scope, I spent many nights in the library reading previous literature related to my research question, running analyses, or meeting with my wonderful advisors to talk about my project. In this way it also affirms all the effort and hard work I put into this research thesis. To see it being recognized as an important project makes me so delighted!