Autumn Meigs will graduate Dec. 15, and credits student research opportunities for helping her find the right college
MANSFIELD, Ohio – Although she didn’t join The Ohio State University at Mansfield until her senior year, Autumn Meigs says she finally found her calling.
Meigs completed a portion of her undergraduate education at another area university, before transferring to The Ohio State University in Columbus in 2022, and then to Ohio State Mansfield in the fall of 2023.
With its smaller class size, less traffic and focus on individual achievement, Mansfield felt like home.
“I wish I would have been here from the beginning,” Meigs said.
This was especially true when she asked her psychology professor, Amy Brunell, about doing student research.
Brunell offered Meigs an opportunity to help study communal narcissism, and the two formed a student-teacher mentorship that has flourished.
Known for seeking grandiose levels of recognition through social groups and settings – communal narcissists can appear caring and altruistic, but they always have a self-centered motive.
Meigs’ work focused on a socio-emotional skills survey completed by psychology students from Ohio State Mansfield and Ohio State Newark. She studied and analyzed results from more than 300 people, providing Brunell and the rest of the research team a better understanding of how communal narcissists self-assess their social-emotional skills, such as self-awareness and empathy.
“I never would have thought about researching narcissism but it’s really enjoyable and interesting,” Meigs said. “At Mansfield, I can talk to my professors and ask them questions, because the classes are so much smaller.”
The most important question she asked her professor was if she could do research.
“If I wouldn’t have asked about doing research, I wouldn’t have been able to do so many of the things this project has led to,” Meigs said.
As a result of her research, she was invited to present at the Community Research Frenzy, held in downtown Mansfield in November. In February, she will join Brunell and two other students for a presentation in Denver Colorado, as part of the annual convention for The Society For Personality and Social Psychology.
“I always saw Autumn as an engaged student, so I’m not surprised to see her pursue research,” said Brunell. “She is very inquisitive and asks good questions in class, and as a result of her work, she has been able to present and network at a professional level.”
Meigs admits that presenting research can feel a bit intimidating at first – especially for younger students who often experience imposter syndrome. But once she pushed herself to get in front of people, she gained a new sense of confidence.
“It feels surreal,” she said. “Everyone at the Research Frenzy was very encouraging and enjoyed the topic more than I thought. With research, I really just want to do something to help people and to get this information out there into the field of psychology.”
Along with her professor, Meigs will be joined on the trip to Denver by Sydney Newton, an Ohio State Mansfield alum and current graduate student at Ohio University; as well as Aankhee Talukdar, a former Ohio State Mansfield student who is now studying at Ohio State Columbus. To learn more about the psychology degree at Ohio State Mansfield, visit the Department of Psychology online.