Chloe Martinez (second from left) and her colleagues from the PETAL Laboratory volunteer at Appleseeds, a teaching farm in Fayetteville.

Chloe Martinez’s path to psychology began with a keen observation from her mother.

“You have an ability to talk to people,” her mother shared. “But not just talk; you have the ability to listen effortlessly.”

Inspired by her mother’s reflection on her strengths, Martinez took a psychology class at her high school in Searcy, Arkansas. She was immediately enamored by the mind and complexity of human nature, a fascination that was deeply rooted in her own journey.

“I think it’s important we understand one another,” Martinez, now an honors psychology major, remarked on the frequency and exclusivity of our interpersonal interactions.

Martinez saw the U of A as the “biggest and brightest” opportunity for her in the state, but she wasn’t sure it was financially possible for her to attend. As a first-generation college student, Martinez applied for the Honors College Path Program, a scholarship and mentorship opportunity for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

“I’ve always prided myself on my worth ethic,” Martinez shared. “But I cannot envision the trajectory of my college experience without the Path Program.”

During her freshman year, Martinez lost two family members in quick succession. Her grades began to slip, and she worried about being far away from her family.

“I didn’t know how to approach grief academically,” she confided. Michelle King, the Path Program associate director, was the first person Martinez called. “The Path team’s motivation for me did not falter. They did not hear that I was doing poorly in my classes—they heard that I was continuing to try while moving through grief.” 

As Martinez began her sophomore year, she knew she wanted to start anew. She began the year by taking an abnormal psychology class taught by Ellen Leen-Feldner, a professor of psychological science and director of the PETAL Laboratory, an experimental psychopathy lab that aims to model the central features of anxiety and trauma-related disorders.

Martinez’s Path mentors and interest in the class inspired her to raise her grades. More than that, she bravely asked Leen-Feldner and Anna Marie Nguyen, a doctoral student in psychology, for the opportunity to do research with the team. 

During Martinez’s interview to become a research assistant in the Petal Lab, Nguyen was impressed by her curiosity and passion. She encouraged Martinez to undertake an honors thesis to gain research experience and supplement her application to a clinical psychology program. Martinez began her research in collaboration with Nguyen and also supported other undergraduate students in the lab. 

“Chloe has just been such a guiding force through the research process,” said Jordyn Moore, a fellow undergraduate psychology student and research assistant in the Petal Lab. “She’s always happy to help and is someone I really feel I can rely on. It’s just so incredible to me that someone in an undergraduate position is doing such amazing impactful work.”

When Nguyen was offered a doctoral psychology internship in Colorado, she asked Martinez to move into the lead research assistant position without hesitation.

In the lead research assistant position usually occupied by a graduate student, Martinez oversees data collection and trains all research assistants.

“The biggest challenge was the learning curve,” she admitted. “I’ve experienced failure, and I’ve learned from it. Failure is part of the research process. Now, I try to focus on learning and growing and not getting lost in the chaos of research.”

Martinez’s thesis is an experimental study focused on the relationship between sexual assault, rumination, repetitive thinking or dwelling on feelings and sleep deprivation.

“I think everyone can relate to the experience of getting stuck in your own thoughts,” Nguyen noted. “Chloe has approached [research into] that experience in a unique way with trauma-exposed individuals, which can be a population that is very difficult to collect data from. I think it’s Chloe’s personality that makes people willing to [share].”

Her research is an extension of scientific literature that suggests traumatic experiences increase the likeliness of engaging in rumination; possibly inferring that this process may be important in the context of post-traumatic stress.

“I am inspired by the depths of what trauma can look and manifest as, from sleep disturbances and insomnia to intimacy and emotional connectivity; understanding trauma is essential to solving difficulties in these realms,” Martinez said.

Her honors research and lab leadership have taught Martinez how to approach real-world experiences. She feels privileged to have worked on such a complex research project and been introduced to novel research as an undergraduate.

“I am doing research that is going to make a statement,” Martinez noted. “It’s unexplored territory, and even if the results are not significant, I helped to answer a question that hasn’t been asked.”

As Martinez nears the end of her research, she reflects on the experience as a “test of character.”

“Research is intimidating,” she says matter-of-factly. “I am not going to sugarcoat it. It takes work and reaching into yourself to find confidence. This is a different level of academia, and if I were to give advice to incoming students, I would say, ‘You are very capable of pursuing real research, but you don’t have to do it alone. Find people who lift you up. Find people who advocate for you.’”