Intern Blog

Hello, my name is D’Shawn Thomas, and I am a senior at UNC–Chapel Hill, majoring in Psychology (B.S.) with a minor in Chemistry. My passion for psychiatry began during my senior year of high school, a period when I first started to see how mental health intersects with culture, community, and identity. Growing up, I saw someone close to me in my immediate family struggle with addiction, and I witnessed the emotional weight that untreated mental health challenges can place on

That’s the word that plays over and over again in my mind as I drive twenty minutes out to an eating disorder and mental health treatment center in Durham, North Carolina. Carolina House offers residential, partial hospitalization (PHP), and intensive outpatient care (IOP) for adults. And yet, despite being one of the few facilities of its kind in the state, it has been shut down and deemed financially unsustainable. Clients were forced to transfer elsewhere, and staff member

Hello! My name is Yutong Wu, and I’m from Nanjing, China. I’m currently a junior majoring in Psychology and Biostatistics, with a minor in Education. My interest in clinical psychology first began in middle school when I realized how fascinated I was by observing people, understanding their behaviors, and exploring the reasons behind them. Although my high school didn’t offer psychology courses, I started teaching myself, reading related books, and even founded a psychology c

Hello! My name is Mina Bayraktar, and I am a senior at UNC Chapel Hill majoring in Neuroscience and minoring in Chemistry. My family is originally from Türkiye, but now we call Cary, North Carolina home. My passion for neuroscience began in an unexpected way, through the movie Inside Out . I remember being in middle school, completely mesmerized by how the film illustrated the inner workings of the brain and connected it to behavior and emotions. That was the spark that set m

My fascination with human behavior began in high school as I closely observed the early development of my younger siblings. That initial curiosity deepened when I volunteered at a summer camp, where guiding preschoolers and encouraging their creativity taught me how essential a safe, supportive environment is for growth. I saw how children thrive when they feel secure, seen, and heard. In recent years, however, my understanding of safety and support has been profoundly reshap