Hi, my name is Ariel Birkholz and I am a Psychology Major at Longwood University. The plan is to graduate in the year 2023, and hopefully not later. I am not sure yet what I want to concentrate on in Psychology, but am on my way to finding what I want to do in the semesters to come. I have an idea of wanting to work in clinical social working, a branch of Psychology that has a broad area of application with many routes available. I also hope to be able to work with a diverse group of people in many different ways. I have been playing violin for 6 years, and hope to be able to continue to play at Longwood in semesters to come if I am lucky enough for them to create a club or class based on strings. As soon as I came to Longwood, I knew this was the school I wanted to go to. I applied for one school and was lucky enough to get in, as well as being involved in Cormier Honors College of Longwood University. I loved the feel of Longwood, how it was a small campus with relatively small classes which meant a more personable and intimate relation with the other classmates and professor. One thing I saw when looking at other potential schools is the fact that most of them had very large classes, often numbering in the hundreds, which doesn’t fit with the feel I want in a class – to be a person rather than a number. ~ Ariel Birkholz, May 2020
It is now coming up on my final semester here at Longwood, and I had an amazing time while attending Longwood University. I am now in the middle of my hunt for graduate schools, still on track for clinical social work, but I am also open to counseling/therapy depending on what I find and the schools I find. I also added a Criminal Justice Minor, which I did not see myself doing, but I’m glad I did because I am really interested in the topic and it could broaden my options. I look forward to the rest of my journey here at Longwood, and the rest of my academic career to come, and eventually a career in something I am passionate in! ~ Ariel Birkholz, December 2022