Taking the plunge: Doctoral student's summer includes immersive experience in counseling field

For one week this summer, Jasmine Jenkins will have the opportunity to dive into the deep end of professional development, grant writing, networking and mentoring with others in her field.

That's because Jenkins, a doctoral student in the department of counseling and human development services studying counseling psychology, received funding through the Minority Fellowship Program to attend the Psychology Summer Institute offered this month by the American Psychological Association.

Aimed at advanced doctoral students and early-career professionals, the Psychology Summer Institute is a weeklong experience offering seminars, networking and one-on-one mentoring on their projects by an outside consultant. Jenkins said receiving the fellowship and attending the summer institute was a true honor, and one she felt lucky to be able to experience as she moves to Austin for the internship portion of her doctoral training.

"I was tasked with submitting my application on the same day as my dissertation, which was a mixed-method evaluation of racial identity and behavior in incarcerated black youth," said Jenkins. "Fortunately I was accepted, and the fellowship will assist me with my 'next steps' based on the results of my dissertation—developing, implementing and evaluating an intervention with incarcerated black youth."

Jenkins said she is also looking forward to the upcoming internship at a juvenile detention center, which will allow her to expand on her dissertation topic. The Summer Institute takes place July 8-15 in Washington, D.C., and her internship begins July 16.

"Working with this population is my purpose and my passion, which is why I was elated when I matched with my No. 1-ranked site for my internship year—the Travis County Juvenile Probation Department in Austin," she added.

An alumna of Spelman College and the University of Pennsylvania, Jenkins holds two master's degrees in counseling. As a doctoral student at UGA, she has done clinical work with adjudicated youth, first responders and members of the Athens community. She has held leadership positions in two divisions of the American Psychological Association (17 and 45), volunteered with the local advocacy organization the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement and volunteered at a daycare for abused children in La Cieba, Honduras.