Andrew Guydish

Name:  Andrew Guydish

College:  Graduate Student (no specific college affiliation)

Department:  Psychology

What Award/ Scholarship did you receive?  The Fredrico and Rena Perlino Memorial Scholarship

What year do you expect to graduate?  I’ll be completing my doctoral degree in 2024

Where do you call home?  Capitola, California

With all of the choices for college, what made UC Santa Cruz stand out?  I’m from Santa Cruz! Growing up I always knew about the university and because of this, it really stood out to me as a possible avenue for both my undergraduate and graduate career. Once I was here for my undergraduate degree, I fell in love with the campus as well as the people and came back as soon as I could to pursue my doctoral degree.

What is your field of focus?  Psychology, but more specifically psycholinguistics with a focus on understanding what makes for “good” conversation. What makes you leave a conversation saying “that was a great conversation” versus “that was a bad conversation”? I’m trying to find out!

What do you hope to do once you graduate from UC Santa Cruz?  Once I graduate from UC Santa Cruz I hope to be a professor!

What is one memorable moment that stands out for you as a student here?  I would have to say graduating with my undergraduate degree. I had worked so hard in high school and during my undergraduate time here, it was just a surreal moment to realize that I had done it, and I was on to more intensive work in graduate school. I’ll never forget walking across the stage at UC Santa Cruz and all the emotions that went with it.

What is your one piece of advice for incoming students about life at UC Santa Cruz?  Immerse yourself in the campus culture. We have some of the best, nicest, and smartest people in all areas working here at UC Santa Cruz. In addition, we have a gorgeous campus which makes attending school here a whole different experience compared to elsewhere.

How will this scholarship impact your academic life /research?  It’ll allow me to focus on completing an experiment that I’ve been working on for about a year this summer. In previous work, I’ve shown some pretty awesome effects, and this work is a follow up to those previous studies. I’m really excited about the potential results, and the Fredrico and Rena Memorial Scholarship will allow me to pursue those ends with peace of mind!