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McNair Featured Scholar - Meet Andrea!

Andrea Peterson is an undergraduate psychology student with a minor in Spanish at the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire. She is from the small town of Hatfield, Wisconsin close to Black River Falls. She plans on moving forward with her Masters in Applied Behavior Analysis, and eventually becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). After she receives her BCBA, she intends on becoming a Behavioral Therapist that works with children with autism. 

My research with mentor, Jamie Tester, and I conducted a research studied how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) Effect the Mental Health and Academic Performance of College Students. The questions about the mental and physical health of individuals who have experienced trauma has been a topic of interest that has recently started to gain more attention. Some areas of focus include the extent of a person's trauma, the effect of trauma on future mental and physical health, and the impact trauma has on an individual’s interactions with others and from new relationships. Studies have been done that show that higher Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) scores have been seen to be directly associated with negative mental health outcomes (Chamberlain, 2020). In this study, the content of 105 survey responses of college students will be analyzed to find out whether having a higher ACE score would have any impact on academics and relationships.