Jessie Tibbs

Jessie Tibbs is a doctoral student in the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She works with survivors of traumatic brain injury (TBI) at a rehabilitation hospital and researches neurocognitive mechanisms underlying alcohol use and TBI. Halfway through doctoral studies, she plans to continue training in neuropsychology and addiction and pursue a career in research and clinical neuropsychology after graduation.

Jessie grew up in South Dakota and credits her high school Psychology teacher for her interest in neuropsychology. Jessie graduated from PLNU with B.A. in therapeutic and community psychology in 2014 and recounts the serendipitous way she stumbled upon PLNU. During a college visit trip, she stayed at a hotel in Point Loma and discovered PLNU on a list of colleges in the area on the hotel’s lobby computer.

As an enthusiastic freshman, she approached Dr. John Wu after a developmental psychology class seeking opportunities to begin exploring neuropsychology. Dr. Wu introduced Jessie to Tasha Wright, a junior psychology major, who was already focusing on applying to graduate programs. Tasha described her research experiences at the Scripps Research Institute in a lab focused on the neuropsychology/ pharmacology of substance use. Tasha encouraged Jessie to apply to gain greater research experience.

Jessie interned there for about a year and also took on a second research assistant position with the VA San Diego Healthcare System/UCSD. There, she worked under Dr. Robert Anthenelli on research further exploring her interests in addiction.

In her senior year, Jessie participated in an additional research project as part of an upper-division psychology course where she worked with Dr. Wu and Dr. Kendra Oakes Mueller to prepare and present data at a  research conference.

Jessie attributes much of her success in gaining entrance into graduate school and flourishing in her academics to various aspects of her PLNU experience. She appreciates her liberal arts education because it encourages broad thinking, which she uses to approach research questions and clinical situations with a novel perspective.

She says her college composition course improved her command of writing and an ecology and conservation course continues to impact her habits in sustainability. Jessie also played violin in the PLNU orchestra and feels she got the best of both worlds being able to participate in music and major in psychology.

Jessie states that high quality courses at PLNU and the relationships she built with professors guided her decision to pursue graduate school. She says getting into psychology doctoral programs is an extremely competitive process, which was intimidating at times. According to Jessie, the individual mentorship she received at PLNU helped her prepare effectively for applications and stand out from other applicants. She notes that in talking with peers, it’s clear this level of mentorship is not part of a typical undergraduate experience.

Most of all, Jessie says PLNU prepared her to connect with people on a deeper level. As a clinician in training, being able to, sit down, listen, understand and connect to another is invaluable.