Scholarship at Parkland

Klein, Leyla

Parkland College 
SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland 
A with Honors Projects Honors Program 
Spring 2024 
Language Learning at Parkland College 
Leyla Klein 
Follow this and additional works at: https://spark.parkland.edu/ah 
Open access to this Poster is brought to you by Parkland College's institutional repository, SPARK: Scholarship at 
Parkland. For more information, please contact spark@parkland.edu. 
Parkland College provides ample facilities and 
technological resources along with dedicated faculty 
to promote Language Learning. 
Language learning at PC would benefit from more 
opportunities for language practice in social settings in 
the target language as well as from correct language 
level placement and facilitated placement correction 
when needed (specifically allowing students to change 
language classes to the appropriate level in cases of 
poor placement, when spaces are available and with 
instructor’s approval).   
Through my work on Language Learning at 
Parkland College project I learned about language 
learning (LL) at Parkland College (PC) by applying 
anthropological field research methods such as 
participant observation, interviews and surveys. 
In the course of this project I:
● participated in language classes
● interviewed language instructors
● conducted student surveys
● compared some of my findings with published 
literature 
Future research should focus on:
● comparison between language learning in ESL 
classes and foreign language classes at PC
● the role and applications of comprehensible input in 
teaching second languages at Parkland College
● ways in which Parkland College language students 
learning foreign languages (not ESL) could habitually 
practice their target language in social settings
According to literature on language learning:
● Language learning happens naturally and 
effectively in social situations
● Students are more motivated to practice in 
social situations
● Appropriate language level placement is an 
important component of effective language 
learning 
P
Pecican, Anca. “"Is Homework Still Attractive?     
Undergraduate Student’s Perception of Out-of-Class 
Second Language Learning.” Dialogos (27345424), 
vol. 20, no. 36, Jan. 2019, pp. 236–57. EBSCOhost, 
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthT
ype=shib&db=edb&AN=150903806&site=eds-live&s
cope=site.
Denbaum-Restrepo, Nofiya. “The Benefits of Social 
Interaction and Proficiency for Foreign Language 
Acquisition of Spanish Conventional Expressions: 
Evidence from Foreign Language Spanish 
Learners.” Spanish in Context, vol. 19, no. 2, May 
2022, pp. 337–60. EBSCOhost, 
https://doi.org/10.1075/sic.18029.den.
1. How are languages taught and learned at 
Parkland College (PC)?
2. What are some strengths of Parkland College 
language education?
3. What could be done to strengthen PC language 
education further?
Background Research
Summary of Language Learning at Parkland CollegeAbstract
Main Research Questions
Conclusions
Future Research
References
Language Learning at Parkland College
Leyla Klein, lklein1@stu.parkland.edu
Parkland College Honors Project, Cultural Anthropology (ANT 103)
What are we doing well?
Languages
Q: What languages can you study at PC?
A:
1. English as a Second Language (ESL) in the forms of 
● free adult classes
● pre-college ESL classes
2. French
3. Spanish
Instructors 
Q: Who teaches languages at Parkland College?
A: Highly trained professionals, most with many years of experience.
Resources 
Q: In terms of technical resources and facilities, how well is language 
learning supported at PC?
A: The teachers feel fully supported in terms of resources PC 
provides.
Q: How does PC currently facilitate language practice in social 
situations?
A: Parkland College offers a variety of study abroad programs and 
offers some study abroad scholarships. 
Student Satisfaction
Q: How satisfied are the students with the language progress at PC?
A: The students range from somewhat satisfied to very satisfied.
How can we do even better?
Suggestions:
What students can do to insure their success in LL at PC:
● seek proper level of language placement 
● allocating enough time for language practice
● consistently completing homework
● seeking and taking advantage of opportunities to practice outside of 
class
What teachers can do to further help insure students’ success in 
LL at PC:
● continue to provide the students with instruction and language 
practice in class
● continue to motivate the students to practice outside of class
● support student initiatives in seeking additional practice
● identify improperly placed students and initiate proper level 
placement
What PC can do to help further students’ success in LL at PC:
● continue to provide facilities and trained staff dedicated to students’ 
success
● continue to provide placement in the appropriate level
● facilitate transferring students to the appropriate level in cases of 
misplacement 
● support student initiatives in creating forums for language practice in 
social situations on campus
 


English

Language Learning at Parkland College

Byrd, Chloe

Parkland College 
SPARK: Scholarship at Parkland 
A with Honors Projects Honors Program 
Spring 2024 
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Myths and Realities 
Chloe Byrd 
Follow this and additional works at: https://spark.parkland.edu/ah 
Open access to this Poster is brought to you by Parkland College's institutional repository, SPARK: Scholarship at 
Parkland. For more information, please contact spark@parkland.edu. 
References
Background Research
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Myths and Realities
Chloe Byrd, cbyrd12@stu.parkland.edu
Parkland College Honors Project, PSY-203 – Abnormal Psychology
OCD Symptoms Negatively Affect People’s Daily Lives
Questions
What is OCD?
• Obsessive compulsive disorder is a psychological disorder 
affecting 3% of people globally struggling with obsessions 
and/or compulsions daily. (2)
The often unknown truth about OCD:
• OCD is a serious mental health condition with results
like significant life impairment and distress due to time-
consuming obsessions and/or compulsions. (4)
Obsessions
• Intrusive and unwanted thoughts, urges, or images which 
are suppressed/neutralized with another thought or action 
(3)
• Compulsions
• The repetition of a behavior or mental act that one feels 
they must complete to satisfy their obsessions (3)
Myths                    vs.                    Reality  Correcting Misconceptions
1. Educate: Replace Myths with Correct Information (6)
• Teaching the general public the realities and seriousness of 
OCD’s obsessions and compulsions is the first step.
2. Contact: OCD persons sharing their struggles directly with 
others (6)
• 10 minute presentations led by people struggling with 
mental disorders followed by a 5 minute discussion yielded 
more positive attitudes/thoughts along with higher 
education on the subject by the audience. (6)
Questions Remaining
• What other methods of convincing could help people correct 
their misconceptions about OCD?
• How can people learn the differences between OCD and 
Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD)?
• What impact would an international experimental study 
covering time spent on daily activities by OCD people have 
on approaches to OCD treatment?
• How are OCD people’s relationships negatively impacted due 
to time-consuming obsessions and compulsions?
Abstract
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychological 
disorder where one experiences time-consuming obsessions 
and/or compulsions. This project addresses some questions 
surrounding the misconceptions, realities, and daily effects of 
OCD. “I’m so OCD” is a phrase that is said commonly when 
people find themselves organizing or cleaning intently. That 
phrase is false as OCD people often have symptoms of 
symmetry and cleaning, but they are compulsions often due to 
obsessions. OCD’s obsessions and compulsions interrupt daily 
activities, and the disorder is often accompanied by other mental 
disorders which is called comorbidity. Studies have shown that 
contact and education tend to correct psychological disorder 
misconceptions effectively. Though this is a researched disorder, 
many questions about next steps still remain.
1. Time spent on daily activities
• A vital diagnosing factor of OCD is that the obsessions and/or compulsions are time-consuming. (5)
• People with OCD experience longer durations for daily life activities due to constant doubts and “not-just-right 
feelings” often resulting with repeating the action many times in a row. (5)
2. Major Depression 50%
• An international study including 3711 adult patients across 7 countries focused on lifetime comorbid diagnoses 
with OCD. The results showed as follows: 
• Major depressive disorder 50.5%, social phobia 26.4%, specific 
phobia 25.5%, and generalized anxiety disorder at 24%. (1)
• Comorbidity is the simultaneous presence of two or more
 medical conditions in a person.
3. Suicidality
• Another recent study reported that 65% of  the OCD persons 
analyzed endorsed at least one suicide phenomena as positive. (1)
• 32% of them had made suicidal plans
• 19.4% had attempted suicide previously
-
1. People with OCD wash their hands more than non-
OCD people.
• Across the US, it is a common 
assumption that if someone cleans
their hands “religiously”, then 
they have OCD. (5)
2. People with OCD organize too specifically just 
because they “can’t have anything out of place”.
• A research study has come to show that women on 
TikTok repeatedly use the term “OCD” synonymously 
for being very organized or clean. (4)
• They might say this image is “triggering their OCD”
3. People with OCD are very cleanly and keep their 
belongings tidy.
• OCD is misused when closets are organized like this, 
because it is popular vernacular to describe people 
who like keeping things tidy and/or in “assigned” 
places. (4)
1. OCD persons may wash their hands for less time than 
non-OCD people but clean their house for longer.
• In one study, OCD persons reported spending 4 minutes 
a day washing hands, but people without OCD reported 
spending 5 minutes washing hands. (5)
• The same study showed OCD persons spent 2 hours and 
13 minutes cleaning their apartment, and non-OCD 
persons spent 1 hour 27 minutes cleaning their 
apartment. (5)
2. People with OCD organize specifically because they 
have obsessive fears of terrible and unrelated things 
happening if they don’t partake in these compulsions.
• The following quote demonstrates a woman debunking 
popular misconceptions of OCD symptoms: ‘What 
people think OCD is *picture of an organized desk.* 
What it's like for me: *woman spraying perfume.* My 
brain: 'spray it 3 times or your mum will die’ ” (4)
3. People with or without OCD can keep their belongings 
clean and tidy, but it is not OCD if it does not involve 
obsessions and compulsions.
• OCD by definition in the DSM-5 cannot be diagnosed
     if the patient is not experiencing obsessions and/or      
compulsions that are time consuming. (2)
1. Kalra, H., Tukel, R., Torres, A. R., Lochner, C., Yaryura-Tobias, J. A., Mathis, M. A. de, Angelakis, I., Velloso, 
P., Berardis, D. D., Brakoulias, V., Ruscio, A., & Cruz, L. F. de la. (2017, April 12). Comorbidity, age of 
onset and suicidality in obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD): An international collaboration. 
Comprehensive Psychiatry. 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0010440X1630699X 
2. Leckman, J. F., Denys, D., Simpson, H. B., Mataix-Cols, D., Hollander, E., Saxena, S., Miguel, E. C., Rauch, 
S. L., Goodman, W. K., Phillips, K. A., & Stein, D. J. (2010, June). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: A 
review of the diagnostic criteria and possible subtypes and dimensional specifiers for DSM-V. 
Depression and anxiety. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3974619/
3. Murphy , M. (n.d.). Overcoming the OCD myth. 
https://www.lagrange.edu/academics/undergraduate/undergraduate-research/citations/15-
 Citations2020.Murphyb.pdf
4. Woods , E. E., Gnatt-Howry, A., & Pope, A. L. (2024, January 8). “I’m so #OCD”: A content analysis of how 
women portray OCD on Tiktok - the professional counselor. The Professional Counselor - The official 
journal of the National Board for Certified Counselors, Inc. and Affiliates (NBCC). 
https://tpcjournal.nbcc.org/im-so-ocd-a-content-analysis-of-how-women-portray-ocd-on-tiktok/
5. Zisler, E. M., Meule, A., Koch, S., Shennach, R., & Voderholzer, U. (2024, February 28). Duration of daily life 
activities in persons with and without obsessive–compulsive disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research. 
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395624001262
6. Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., Penn, D. L., Uphoff-Wasowski, K., Campion, J., Mathisen, J., 
Gagnon, C., Bergman, M., Goldstein, H., & Kubiak, M. A. (2001, January 1). Three strategies for 
changing attributions about severe mental illness. OUP Academic. 
https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/27/2/187/1870993
1. What are some common misconceptions about OCD?
2. What is the reality with respect to the symptoms of 
OCD?
3. How do the symptoms of OCD affect people’s daily 
lives?
Image courtesy of 
https://mindsetsd.com/dont-
suffer-with-ocd-learn-about-
our-groundbreaking-solution/ 
Image courtesy of:
https://mindnest.app/obsessive-
compulsive-disorder-more-about-ocd/ 
 
Image courtesy of:
https://kimberleyquinlan-lmft.com/real-event-ocd/ 
Image courtesy of: https://www.clutterfree.hk/blog/tips/color-code-your-wardrobe/v 
Image courtesy of: 
https://www.psychologytools.com/self-
help/obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd/ 
Image courtesy of: https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-comorbidity-
definition-examples-in-psychology.html 
Image courtesy of: https://www.collidu.com/presentation-obsessive-compulsive-disorder-ocd 


Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Myths and Realities

Career Services, Handout Courtesy of

10 Resumé Tips

10 Cover Letter Tips 
 
 
parkland.edu/
careerservices 
 
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Phone 
217.351.2219 
Fax  
217.373.3831 
 
■ 
 
Hours: 
Monday - Friday 
8am - 5pm 
 
■ 
 
2400 W. Bradley Ave. 
Champaign, IL 61821 
Room U267 
 1. A cover letter should always accompany the resumé. 
  
 2. Cover letters should be one page, using standard business letter 
format, in 11-12 point font. 
 
  3.  Many employers look to the cover letter as an example of 
your written communication skills.  Make certain that your cover 
letter is spell-checked, grammar-checked, and proofed by someone 
other than yourself. 
 
  4. Address the letter to a specific person, using his/her correct  
title.  If you are unsure as to whom the letter should be addressed, call 
the company and ask.  Request spelling and title verification if        
necessary.   
 
  5. Tailor the letter to the needs of the organization or the         
description of the position.  Explaining what you want throughout the 
letter doesn’t tell the reader the BENEFIT of what you can offer. 
 
  6. Capture the reader’s attention by highlighting your skills and   
abilities (think accomplishments and give examples); emphasize their 
usefulness to the employer. 
 
  7. Be precise and concise - don’t waste the employers’ time with fluff 
or wordiness. 
 
  8. Be professional but don’t be afraid to show enthusiasm and interest 
in the position.  Keep the tone positive. 
 
  9. Keywords are key.  Because many companies use applicant   
tracking systems (ATS) to find and screen candidates, skill-oriented 
keywords will boost your chances for being discovered.  Match your 
qualifications to the job description using key words.  
 
10. If submitting by email, type the letter in the body of the email and 
attach your resumé.  Use short paragraphs to give a brief bio on who 
you are and what you can do for them.  Wrap it up in the second    
paragraph.  An example for the subject line:  “CPA seeks accounting   
position.” 
(See reverse side for cover letter template) 
Parkland College ensures equal educational opportunities are offered to all students regardless of race, color, national origin, gender,   
gender expression, disability, sexual orientation, veteran/Vietnam veteran era, age, or religion, and is Section 504/ADA compliant. For   
additional information or accommodations, call 217/351-2551. 
Visit Career Services (U267) for assistance with resumés,             
interviewing, career guidance, and occupational information. 
Your Name 
Address, City, State, Zip 
phone / email 
(Copy and paste the heading from your resumé) 
 
 
 
Date 
 
Contact’s Name 
Job Title 
Company Name 
Address 
City, State, Zip 
 
Dear Mr./Ms. Last Name: 
 
First paragraph:  Clearly state the reason you are writing, explain the type of work you are interested in, 
and indicate how you learned about the employer and/or the specific opening.  Let them know you’ve 
done your homework.  You may want to say something specific and flattering about the organization, 
[e.g. “(Name of organization) has an excellent reputation locally for _______and I would like to become 
part of your team.”] 
 
Second (and third if relevant) paragraph(s):  Be specific about why you are interested in the position.  
Show what education, skills, talents, and accomplishments you have to offer the employer.  Highlight 
and expand on specific aspects of your resumé that are relevant, (e.g. “As indicated on the enclosed 
resumé… or “Of particular interest to you may be my [accomplishments, skills, experience] in the area 
of _______.”)  Remember to consider this from an employer’s point of view.  Show how you can be of 
value to them (rather than how they can be of value to you).  
 
Closing paragraph:  If you haven’t done so above, refer the reader to the resumé you are enclosing.  
State your  interest in an interview and offer to provide additional information upon request.  Make it 
easy for the employer to respond by 1) including your telephone number and times when you are avail-
able to receive calls;  2) indicating when you will contact the employer*; or 3) stating when you will be   
available for an interview.  Finally, thank the employer for his/her consideration. 
 
Sincerely, 
 
(your signature in black ink) 
 
Your name typed 
 
 
 
 
*[If you say you will call, make sure you follow through.  If you don’t, you will appear disinterested     
and unreliable.] 


10 Cover Letter Tips

The following information is an in-depth exploration of Gia’s Thrifting, an online curated thrift store, and the marketing strategies the business could use to create and execute a campaign. This report includes detailed evaluations of Gia’s Thrifting, market research about the thrifting industry, and competitor analysis. By developing a marketing mix, communications brief, and SWOT analysis, Gia’s Thrifting has generated a campaign idea and potential media executions

Macedo, Gia

Promotional Strategies for Gia\u27s Thrifting

Based on the Emmy Award-winning television movie by Reginald Rose
Adapted for the stage by Sherman L. Sergel
Director: BJ Gailey Stage Manager: Yen Vi Green Scenic Designer: Kristin Kelleher Properties: Cindy Adamek Lighting Designer: Max Prevatt Costume Designer: Sheri Doyle Sound Designer: Drew Bagby* Hair and Makeup: Sophie Accardo+
Presented in the second stage theatre October 3, 4, 5, 11, 12 at 7:30pm October 6, 13 at 3pm Parkland College Theatre Fall 2024
To view images from this production, visit 12 Angry Jurors (2024).https://spark.parkland.edu/parkland_theatre/1152/thumbnail.jp