Garrett Schwartz graduated from the Institute of Child Development (ICD) in 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Developmental Psychology and a minor in Neuroscience. During his time at ICD, he worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Cognitive Development and Neuroimaging Lab under professor Kathleen Thomas, studying brain and cognitive development from infancy to adolescence. Additionally, he worked in Megan Gunnar’s Developmental Psychobiology Lab, the UMN Center for Twin and Family Research, and the UMN Center for Addiction Neuroscience. Schwartz now works as a clinical associate at an outpatient mental health clinic and plans to become a clinical psychologist. Below, Schwartz shares more about his experience at ICD and how it has impacted his career.

“I now understand my choice to major in developmental psychology at the UMN as one of the most impactful decisions I have ever made in my life. My positive experience as a student at ICD allowed me to blossom as a scholar and shaped my own career trajectories in the field of psychology. After learning about developmental theory in my coursework and focusing on independent undergraduate research, I was able to conduct an honors senior thesis and obtain a position as a post baccalaureate research assistant at Yale University. At Yale, my ICD education and research experience allowed me to thrive in a full-time developmental neuroscience research environment. Furthermore, my education at ICD now serves as the basis for my pursuit of becoming a clinical psychologist and an evidence-based practitioner. I use the lessons I learned in undergraduate as tools to help clients in my current role as a clinical associate at an outpatient mental health clinic.

I will always conceptualize psychology and psychopathology like a developmentalist, and developmental perspectives will continue to shape how I practice as a clinician. Finally, as someone born and raised in Southern California, I did not know what to expect when leaving home and coming across the country to Minnesota for my college education. The tight-knit community at ICD served as my home away from home and as a support system for me as a student. I still keep in contact with colleagues I met in Minnesota and I know I could not have accomplished what I did without the ICD community.”