Research Rookies Student Profiles

Name: Zachary Woods

Cohort: Sophomore/Transfer Research Rookie

Major: Psychology

Hometown: Olympia Fields, Illinois

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Alecia Santuzzi

Zachary Woods is a sophomore transfer student who would like to go to medical school after completing his undergraduate degree at NIU. His goal is to be a child psychiatrist, because he loves talking and listening to people and helping them with their problems. When Zachary accomplishes this, he will be the first medical doctor of his family.

To help him achieve this goal, Zachary Woods turned to Research Rookies upon coming to NIU. When he found out about Research Rookies, he knew it would provide him with the opportunity to gain more knowledge about his field and network within the department. And already, within the first few months of the semester, the program has done just that. Zachary has found a mentor in Dr. Santuzzi whom he greatly respects. According to Zachary, “She is funny and understanding, and I can tell she knows exactly what she is doing.” Zachary is also learning to see people in a different light through this program.

For his project, Zachary and Dr. Santuzzi are working with people and their meta-perceptions to see how they influence and potentially hinder themselves. Basically, they are looking at people’s skewed perceptions of themselves and how they can negatively impact the individual. Zachary hopes that this project will provide him with better insight into the human thought process and psychology. But either way, he is looking forward to having results, learning from the experience, and presenting his findings at the NIU Undergraduate Research Day in April.

Zachary on what being a Research Rookie means: “Being a Research Rookie means to me hard work, dedication, and gaining knowledge.”