Adam Brandt ’22PHD believes he will never be done learning. When he was hearing his master’s degree, he realized that he wanted to be like the faculty members he was learning from and thought it would be exciting to earn a terminal degree in his field.
Now, he is graduating from the NC State College of Education with his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy, and Human Development in the counseling and counselor education program area of study.
Learn more about Adam Brandt
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Activities (Research or Extracurricular): Making coffee, playing music, hiking, watching sad movies.
Why did you choose the NC State College of Education?
It was close to family, I wanted to leave Ohio, and they fully funded my education.
Why did you choose your area of study?
I had some pretty awesome professors and supervisors in my master’s program, and I wanted to do what they did. I also liked the idea of having a terminal degree. Not that the learning ever stops, I just think there’s something cool about having all the formal training you can in one field and being able to push the boundaries of knowledge in your field.
What do you hope to accomplish in your field after graduation?
I hope to keep doing research that explores the intersection of faith and multicultural development. I hope to teach future clinical mental health counseling students. I also have an idea for animated psychoeducational videos that I’m keeping a secret until I find the right people to help me out.
What’s your next step? What do you have planned after graduation?
Looking for jobs!
How has the College of Education prepared you for that next step?
Sometimes when I tell people about my dissertation, the response I get is “they let you research that?” And my response is always, “yes, I had their full support all the way through.” I appreciate how my committee heard my research vision and supported that vision no matter how different it was from their research agenda or what might be typical in my field.
Do you have a favorite memory from your time in the College of Education?
Passing my dissertation defense.
Tell us about an experience you had with the College of Education that had the biggest impact on you or your career.
I think my classmates had a huge impact on my understanding of multiculturalism and racial identity development. Multicultural development is more than a cognitive understanding; it’s also intensely relational. While my development is never over, having opportunities to foster development through relationships had a profound impact on me.
Why did you choose education?
Because you’re never done learning. Education never gets old, and there’s always something new to find, a new perspective to take, something else to chew on.
What are your research interests? What inspired those interests?
My research interests include Buddhist psychology, counselor ethics and the intersection of faith and multicultural development.
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