**This interview was conducted in October 2025 by Student Life Interviewer, Avery Yung.**
Avery: Hi Piper! Thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! Would you like to tell me a little about your experience as a psychology student and what initially drew you into the field
Piper: Yes! Thank you for having me. I always kind of knew I wanted to do psychology. I took AP psych in high school, and it was really interesting, but I think my decision was cemented after taking PSYC 101 and 102 in first year. I thought everything was super interesting, and I wanted to go into a career where I could help people, so psychology just seemed like the best option for me.
Avery: Once you were in psychology, how did you first decide you wanted to get involved with research?
Piper: I actually didn’t even realize how big of a thing research was. I thought that I wanted to go into clinical practice, but I was introduced to research through PSYC 217 and 218, and I really enjoyed those classes, so I looked more into it and decided that I wanted to apply to the honors program and get more involved in the research side.
Avery: Wow, okay so what made you initially want to get into the honours program?
Piper: I looked more into psychology research careers and programs for grad school, and I found that honors is something that can prepare you for those programs, so I decided to apply, and I ended up getting in. I was a little bit concerned, because I actually didn’t have any research experience beforehand, but I managed to get into the program, and I found a supervisor by cold emailing professors.
Avery: So fair, do you mind telling me about your research now and the journey you took to get there?
Piper: Yes! So right now, I’m working full time as a research coordinator in Dr. Lori Brotto’s Sexual Health Research Lab, which is under the Faculty of Medicine, but she’s a clinical psychologist and has a lot of psychology projects in her lab. The projects I’m working on are psychology-based projects. For my job, I coordinate a randomized-controlled trial that’s testing two adaptations of an effective treatment for sexual dysfunction which has been adapted to treat cancer survivors.
Avery: That’s cool! Could you elaborate more on the specific design of the research?
Piper: Okay, so, we’ve adapted a program called eSense, which was developed by Dr. Brotto and her colleague, Dr. Kyle Stephenson, to treat sexual dysfunction to make it more applicable to the unique needs of gynecologic cancer survivors. The program itself uses psychological treatments to address sexual dysfunction. And now for the study I’m coordinating, we are recruiting gynecological cancer survivors to help us test this adaptation.
Avery: How did you find yourself interested in cancer survivors initially?
Piper: Honestly, I feel like a lot of research is kind of just grabbing on to opportunities that seem interesting. When I started in Dr. Brotto’s lab for my third year honors thesis, the dataset she had available was on breast cancer survivors, so I kind of got familiar with the impacts that cancer can have on sexual functioning and found that interesting, and then I also got exposure to the treatment side of things with intervention development and factors that can influence that. So I got the first exposure there, and then I was still interested in sexual health more broadly, so I did a directed study in Dr. Brotto’s lab the next year and looked at how the eSense program could be adapted to be more accessible to neurodivergent women, which is kind of a pivot away from the cancer populations, but still looking at adapting treatments for sexual dysfunction. Ultimately, things kind of fell into place, and there was an opening for a research coordination position on the project I work on now, which had various similar aspects to projects I’ve worked on before in her lab, and I found it really interesting. And yeah, now I’m in this role, and it’s super, super interesting. I love it!
Avery: That is so perfect how that worked out for you! How do you think this research contributes to the overall psychology field and wellbeing?
Piper: Overall, this kind of research helps expand how psychological treatments can be applied, like what kinds of issues they can address, which populations they can help, and ultimately how they can improve overall well-being. Sexual wellbeing is a large factor in overall wellbeing, and it’s a crucial factor in the wellbeing of gynaecologic cancer survivors.
Avery: Yeah, and looking back on your research experience, what have you found the most rewarding or even surprising about the setting? Have you found anything challenging?
Piper: I think the most rewarding part is figuring things out and learning and being able to share your findings with your colleagues or other people who might benefit from them, like people from that population. I love hearing about what other people in the field are doing, like with my friends in the honors program, it is always really cool to hear about their work. I feel like it’s really rewarding to go to conferences and learn about what other people are doing and share what you’re doing with the community. I think something challenging is all the small steps that go into designing a study, and the details that you need to have nailed down when you’re planning a study. It was just surprising to me, how many little things are accounted for from the get go.
Avery: Okay, so shifting gears a little bit here, when you first started your degree in psychology, what’s one thing you wish you would’ve known?
Piper: I do wish I had known about the importance and value of research experience a little bit earlier, because I honestly didn’t. I don’t have family members in academia, so I didn’t really know what was going on. I wish I had known about research and how to get involved in research earlier, so that I could have had more time during my undergrad to get involved.
Avery: That’s definitely a relatable aspect as students, do you have any tips on getting involved?Piper: It can be hard to get your foot in the door, but once you have your foot in the door, then a lot of opportunities start opening up. Honestly, I didn’t actually get any lab positions until about third year, but I did try to connect with professors. I think a good thing to do is to focus on things that you’re actually interested in, because then if you do get into those labs, you’re going to care more about the work that you’re doing, and that’s going to show in your work and probably give you more opportunities to move up. For me, I also didn’t have any connections in research, so I did the cold emailing and just applied whenever things became available on lab websites. It took a while, but that’s how I eventually got into the labs that I’m in. In terms of getting into labs, the best option is probably to look at the websites and the lab Instagram pages, because they always post when they’re recruiting volunteers. I think cold emailing is more if you have a directed study in mind, or if you end up getting into the honors program. If someone wants to get involved in research, and they haven’t yet by the time they want to apply for honours, I don’t think they should let that deter them from applying. Don’t let a lack of research experience deter you from applying to honors!
Avery: Love it! And finally, how did you manage balancing coursework, research and personal life throughout your undergrad degree?
Piper: I had a really extensive Google calendar that was like my second brain. But aside from that, I also made sure to prioritize self care and taking breaks. A lot of the time, it can feel like that’s not an option, but eventually, throughout my degree, I figured out that if I’m feeling super burnt out, it’ll probably take me about double the amount of time to do work in the quality that I want it to be in. It’s actually better to just take a break and recharge and then go at it when I’m feeling refreshed, rather than trying to do it when I’m burnt out and spending more time and energy than I would have if I just took a break. But it is a lot easier said than done.
Avery: Oh yeah completely, definitely easier said than done! Is there anything you want the undergraduate psychology population to know? Any wise words or last thoughts?
Piper: Actually, one thing that I didn’t mention is, don’t overwhelm yourself with lab work. It can be really tempting to volunteer in a bunch of different labs at once. Because more opportunities start to open up after you have a little bit of experience, there’s kind of an urge to accept all of these labs because you applied and got it. Then on top of that, there’s the pressure of some other people being in tons of different labs, and it gets stressful when you compare yourself to them. So I think, resist the urge to volunteer in a bunch at once, because you’ll leave better lasting impressions in the field and with your supervisors if you’re producing high quality work in between one to three labs, rather than if you’re involved in many, but not able to be super responsive or involved.
Avery: Amazing! That’s all for today, thank you so much Piper!
**End of Interview.**
