Olivia Hoemke Cheerleader University of California Santa Cruz

Olivia Hoemke is from McKinny, Texas. She has recently been accepted to Graduate School to attend the MA Program in Psychological Research at Texas State University in Austin, Texas. She wants to write her thesis on the sexual appetite of blondes.

I spent my high school years daydreaming, fantasizing, and planning to study Biology as an undergraduate student in preparation for medical school, followed by an exciting career devoted to practicing medicine. After I got to college, however, all this changed, because I developed two profoundly compatible loves that now dominate my plans: Psychological Research and the study of the brain, along with Computer Science, especially artificial intelligence. I have chosen Cognitive Science as my profession because I love research, and I believe that technological advances, especially AI, have opened new worlds of opportunities for research in Cognitive Sciences that could only have been dreamed of heretofore. Thus, I am applying to the MA Program in Psychological Research at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. A Texan born and raised, your program is my first choice for graduate school because of its sheer excellence in Cognitive Science as well as the location, where I can take full advantage of the support of my family, enabling me to devote myself 24/7 to my studies and research opportunities.

UC Santa Cruz Beauty Queen Olivia Hoemke Getting Ready for Graduate School

Olivia Hoemke on LinkedIn.com

Entering college, I believed that I wanted to be a doctor. I spent all of high school planning and fantasizing about studying medicine. It was actually my father who suggested I apply for the cognitive science major at my university and given his consistently sound advice, I decided to pursue it. My initial goal was to choose a more unique major than the typical biology track many pre-med students choose. What I did not expect was that I would instead fall in love with the brain. As I progressed through my degree, alongside psychology electives, we were required to enroll in computer science courses. While I did not particularly enjoy my “Introduction to Python” course and often found myself pounding away at the keys for hours, with sweat trickling down my brow after repeated attempts at debugging, it also led me to a newfound monolith and its name was ChatGPT. At this stage, ChatGPT was still early in its release and used mostly by coders; however, without realizing it, I began practicing the art of prompt engineering and discovering the endless possibilities of this new tool. The idea that natural human language could be used to speak directly with a computational system was, and still is, deeply fascinating to me. Discovering this technology while studying a field at the forefront of its development was the moment I truly shifted my identity toward becoming a technophile. Around this same time, I began exploring virtual reality technology, particularly the Meta Quest 2, and started tinkering with the idea of combining it with artificial intelligence. I experimented with platforms such as Inworld AI, a character generation system that allows users to create highly expressive text-to-speech models through a simple interface. This system contained an “EQ algorithm,” which consisted of parameters with adjustable filters under the categories of mood and personality. Depending on how the user adjusted the various trait nodes, the unique combination of input would produce shifts in the AI agent’s communication style, tone, personality, and affect. As a result, it would generate highly realistic behaviors revealed through its generative output, completely dependent on user input and response. I would send identical chains of prompts to each bot and observe how differently each responded, knowing the variation was dependent on the bot’s “digital consciousness” that I had designed through the interface. I realized I was running my own mini simulation experiment, giving me a glimpse into how variables of cognition come together in the human mind to produce specific outputs. I also learned how to use an API to connect and integrate my custom personality algorithm into a virtual avatar and then into a virtual environment, allowing direct face-to-face communication with the AI using the headset as the interface. In that moment, I became strongly aware of the endless possibilities for how innovative technology can advance psychological research. During this journey I also landed an internship working at Alter Learning, an educational technology company, and assisted with the development of virtual reality games designed for children with autism spectrum disorder. I spent hours exploring virtual environments and conceptualizing how to gamify lesson plans into engaging and immersive content accessible for neurodivergent children. My assignment was to create a botany game that focused on teaching kids how to garden and take care of plants. I worked with educators who crafted the lesson plans and relayed this information to the game designers while conceptualizing the gameplay and user experience. I documented specific visual elements such as color contrast and ways to reduce cognitive fatigue and sensory overload through specific spatial layouts and environmental design. This experience further fueled my interest in how much opportunity exists in quantifying and capturing specific data points within a virtual environment, and how much data can be explored within these environments, making them strong candidates to be used as research tools to observe various outcomes in real time with precise manipulation in an ecologically valid way. After graduating college and settling back home in Texas, I found my current job working as a Neurofeedback Technician. I spend my time conducting neurotherapy sessions involving connecting a client’s brain using conductive paste and electrodes to our amplification system and software, which guides the individual through an audiovisual feedback session based on real-time neural frequency patterns. The primary assessment tool we use to guide our neurofeedback protocol selection is a QEEG scan. For these brain scans, I apply EEG caps and guide individuals through the procedure, which outputs a color-coded brain map highlighting areas of dysregulation based on standard deviation norms. The software also relies on an algorithm to detect common patterns across individuals and generates information about which brainwave patterns are attributed to specific functional symptoms. While working in this unique clinical setting, I am continuously drawn to the innovative technique of the QEEG brain map, as I have observed how frequently clinical diagnosis relies heavily on subjective data. Additionally through both my academic and professional experiences I have noticed that many psychological assessment tools feel outdated, superficial, or insufficiently individualized relative to the complexity of the human mind. There appears to be a recurring issue of under- or over-diagnosing mental health conditions, with some clinicians even viewing diagnostic labels as unhelpful altogether. Although mental health discussions are becoming more prevalent and less taboo, there still remains substantial work to be done in improving the assessment and diagnostic processes. This pattern of mis- and self-diagnosis can create challenges for many individuals seeking and receiving appropriate care and treatment. These observations drive my research interest in improving psychological assessment and data collection through innovative tools such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. This is why the MAPR program is of interest to me. As I’ve gained more experience in the clinical side of things, I haven’t had the opportunity yet to work hands-on in a research lab, I aim to sharpen my skills in understanding statistical quantitative analysis and developing the methodological foundation needed to pursue my long-term goal of a PhD in Clinical Neuropsychology. Additionally I highly value the mentorship opportunity within this program as I am highly compelled by much of the research being done at this university. I know I will learn a substantial amount in this program and it will continue to help me narrow my research interests while building a strong foundation for a compelling application for my doctorate. I am inspired by many of the ongoing research projects at Texas State University and am specifically drawn to the work of Dr. Trujillo, Dr. Warnell, and Dr. Rodgers. Dr. Trujillo’s work particularly stands out to me because of his focus on computational approaches to understanding the mind using EEG data and objective measurements, as well as his work in virtual reality environments. His focus on how multiple complex cognitive processes interact and the mechanisms that underlie them aligns strongly with my interest in translating cognitive activity into measurable signals and identifying meaningful biomarkers using advanced technological tools. Additionally, my experience working directly with EEG in my current line of work provides me with the foundational understanding of the kind of data which can be collected and interpreted through this method and how it can be used to detect meaningful patterns which can inform behavior and clinical insight. I am also drawn to the work of Dr. Warnell, particularly her use of neural, eye-tracking, and behavioral measures to quantify the complex factors involved in social cognition across development. I am especially drawn to the rigorous work of her lab exploring both adults and children, including neurodivergency, as this connects closely with my experience working on virtual reality educational games for children with autism and my interest in understanding how shifts in context influence social outcomes. This also aligns with my interest in exploring how assessment tools can be improved in both accuracy and efficiency for psychological disorders through technology, including how we socialize with artificial intelligence. Lastly, I am interested in clinical psychologist, Dr. Rogers, and her work in suicidal ideation and assessment. Although my primary area of focus is not in suicidal ideation I am particularly drawn to her focus in innovative assessment and her goal of understanding the particular factors that play a role in this complex clinical presentation. Her work aligns well with my interest in advancing assessment techniques in clinical practice and identifying meaningful biomarkers that improve both accuracy and efficiency of diagnosing mental health issues.

Olivia Hoemke and Friends at the University of Califfornia Santa Cruz

Olivia Hoemke University of California Santa Cruz

Beauty Queen Olivia Hoemke on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/olivia.hoemke

While receiving dozens of offers, Beauty Queen Olivia Hoemke decides to attend Texas State University in Austin, Texas. We are certain that she will be famous, just like her mother, Susan Hoemke.

We’d like to introduce you to Susan Hoemke.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?I am an Author, Public Speaker, Life Coach and Activist to help kids, teens, families and those struggling with Substance Use Disorder. My book ‘Healing Scarred Hearts’ is raw and real to let others into my life and home to better understand Substance Use Disorder and mental health. My book is not only our true story but also a guide to help parents. www.healingscarredhearts.com IMAP Life is for kids and their families which is launched on the Thinkific LMS for teachers to use all year long in schools to help bridge conversations about drugs between kids, parents and educators. www.addictionimpacts.com I am proud that my marriage survived the crisis we lived through and that my family is still connected and living well again. We all healed together and for me, my faith and Christian upbringing helped me survive the loss of my son Hayden to Heroin overdose and be able to share our story.