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If you asked psychology students to describe Dr. Michele Breault you
would get responses such as “short and
spunky,” “entertaining,” “memorable lectures but tough tests,”
and “crazy.” I agree with these descriptions but would also mention
how much she cares about her students, research, and Truman State
University. I have been lucky enough to work with Dr. Breault for
over two years. This May she especially went above and beyond her
duties as a psychology professor to enrich the lives of Truman
students such as myself. I was one of a dozen psychology students who
traveled from Kirksville to Chicago to attend the MidWest Psychology
Association Conference during the first week of May. Dr. Breault was
one of the faculty mentors who also attended the conference. Dr.
Breault was supportive while preparing for the conference. Whether it
was editing our research poster, making hotel reservations, or
confirming transportation arrangements, Dr. Breault was always
extremely helpful. In Chicago, she helped ease my last minute worries
before presenting research and was quick to congratulate me when it
was all over. The rest of the conference included several
presentations that Dr. Breault attended in the attempt to, among other
things, bring back exciting new finds in psychology research that she
could add to her classes or build her own research off of. When
conference activities had come to an end, Dr. Breault and another
faculty member took a few of us students around Chicago. She wanted
us to get a bit of “non-psychology” fun in during our trip. It
certainly was a nice way to end over a year’s worth of hard work in
research. After the conference had ended and the last finals were graded, Dr.
Breault kept busy by helping review senior portfolios required of
every graduate at Truman. I had only been at home for a few days when
it became clear to me that ‘summer vacation’ did not mean much to
her. Dr. Breault wasted no time in sending my research partner and I
e-mails regarding new possible topics. This research will hopefully
provide valuable insight as to how to increase satisfaction of life,
retention rates, and personal growth of freshman college students. Lastly, Dr. Breault has used the month of May to prepare for her
freshman-focused class that she’ll teach beginning in August. Knowing
my background and interest in residence life activities, she has been
asking for my ideas and input on how to help freshman get acclimated
to life at Truman, academically, socially, and personally. Not many
professors are already planning their freshman classes. All of Dr.
Breault’s future students will certainly appreciate her extra efforts
come August. It is for all of these reasons and more that Dr. Michele
Breault deserves to be recognized as the May 2007 Spotlight Of The
Month! Word Count: 466
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