Since 1982, Brown University has welcomed high school students to its Providence, Rhode Island, campus for pre-college summer programs. Participants take rigorous, college-level classes alongside peers from all 50 states and 70 countries around the world. Last summer, Taft’s Bernice Zhang ’27 was among them, studying human behavior and addiction at Brown.
“I think one of the biggest highlights of the program was being able to meet people from all over who were also interested in psychology and human behavior,” says Bernice. “I've always been interested in the human mind and how it drives people to make decisions. I felt that being able to understand people who used substances would help me understand others, even if they had never even been exposed to substances.”
The academic course covered a broad range of topics, from the psychology behind addiction and its causes, to treatments and harm reduction. Each day began with a formal lecture; student input and inquiry then drove discussions around the day’s topic. Frequently, the professor posed general questions to shape small-group discussion.
“As an example, we talked about a better formalized definition of substance use disorder (SUD),” Bernice explains. “After formulating ideas in our small groups, we would then share our them with the whole class.”
The introduction of the term “substance use disorder,” itself, was a critical component of the program, and an important takeaway for Bernice.
“We learned a lot about stigma and how public opinion can change the meaning of some words,” Bernice notes. “Dr. Cassidy emphasized the importance of using words like ‘substance use’ instead of ‘addiction’ and ‘person with SUD’ instead of ‘addict.’ Just changing the terminology used could help reduce stigma, which affects the recovery process. I found this both important and interesting to remember.
“In the course, we talked about the treatment process and how a lot of it is patient-specific, thus requiring a large amount of empathy and patience to ensure the highest rates of success. We talked about what this looked like and watched videos of real-life sessions; I thought that the level of empathy and patience showed by the health care providers was meaningful and something that could be applied to multiple scenarios,” says Bernice. “This experience has left me with a generally deeper compassion and understanding for those struggling with SUDs and a better understanding of how addiction is treated and approached.”
Bernice studied at Brown University with support from a Meg Page ’74 Fellowship grant. To honor Page’s commitment to compassionate health care, this fellowship is awarded annually to students who wish to explore an experience or course of study devoted to the provision of better health care in areas such as public health, family planning, medical research, mental health, and non-Western practices of healing.