Lyric Rains-Bury (Class of 2022)

photo of Lyric Rains-Bury

  • junior honors major in Psychology
  • minor in Interactive Media Studies (now ETBD)
  • from Goshen, OH
  • Undergraduate Assistant in Fred Reeder's journalism course
  • student member of Smart Postural Control and Coordination Lab
  • Chapter President of the National Society of Leadership and Success
"If you are feeling apprehensive about the whole university experience, you're allowed to. However, just know that when you get to Miami, every single professor you'll ever have will be looking to help you. The most important thing you can do is reach out. If you're having trouble and you make that clear to someone in the classroom, they will do everything they can to help you."

Why Miami?

"Miami is a walkable campus, and I find it feasible to get to class on foot. The scenery and beauty of campus make my leisurely walks even more leisurely!

"I've never heard anything bad about the professors at Miami. My favorite part of walking around campus is the fact that you will see professors hanging out. The faculty are very down to earth, so I've always had an easy time talking to them and going to their office hours. Overall, Miami's environment and aesthetic qualities, along with being able to talk to faculty and staff, is what helped me feel happy with my decision.

"I came to Miami knowing I wanted to do psychology, but I didn't know what to specialize in. I learned this gradually by talking to professors. First semester, I was terrified of approaching them, but they talked to me first. That's when I ended up making connections. They knew that I wasn't 100% positive as to whether psychology was what I wanted, but everything was very streamlined. I never once felt like I was under the spotlight, so I was apprehensive for nothing!"

Best Miami Experiences

Dr. Jay Smart with Terry Reid '20 and Emily Curran '20, in the SPoCC Lab

"As a psychology major I work in the Smart Postural Control and Coordination (SPoCC) lab, where I work with associate professor of psychology L. Jay Smart and graduate student Max Teaford on multiple studies depending on the specific person or project. I have also worked as an undergraduate assistant to assistant clinical lecturer Fred Reeder in the Department of Media, Journalism & Film.

"Professor Reeder reached out to me because of my critical thinking ability in his journalism class. I learned what it's like to teach a college-level class, specifically grading papers and talking to students outside of class to help them with assignments. I also learned how to explain topics to help students interpret the information.

"Working with Professor Reeder has made me a better writer in every class I've taken since. Teaching writing to other students allowed me to perfect this. This experience gave me a passion to write more in psychology. I learned techniques to make my writing cohesive and concise, and these techniques can be applied to psychology. It has augmented my passion in the psychological sphere.

"Being a member of Miami's Honors College has led to me writing and drawing my own comic for a Japanese course on pop culture. I've been inspired to take up drawing again and to learn the Japanese language."

Miami and the Liberal Arts

Lyric Rains-Bury in Japan

"I love Miami's undergraduate psychology program because it is versatile and well-rounded. There are a number of different avenues I could go down in terms of psychology, whether that be law, decision-making, or industrial organization. The department is full of passionate people from different backgrounds. As both a hard and a soft science, psychology has a little bit of everything — there's math and statistics, neuroscience, history, and society and culture.

"Some of the skills I have gained through psychology include performing statistics and running statistical programs on a computer, which helps me understand the research of just about any field. I know what the numbers mean in a research paper, and I know how to set up a hypothesis and go about publishing a research paper. My people skills have developed as I have specialized more in the social and cognitive aspects of psychology.

"Psychology has given me a better understanding of the human mind and how I can apply it in my day-to-day life. I feel like I am gaining understanding of the purpose behind people’s decisions, why people pursue the things they do or say the things they say, why cognitive dissonance happens, why people get into arguments, and all the different socio-cultural issues that exist around the world today and the history behind them."

Working with VR in a Psychology Lab

"I've been hands-on in Dr. Smart's SPoCC lab since my first year at Miami. I had built rapport with one of my psychology instructors, Max Teaford, who happened to be involved in the lab. I enjoyed staying after his Psychology 294 class to discuss course content, which led to his recommendation to join the team.

"One of the biggest components of working in the lab is studying virtual reality and studying variations in human perception. We have an omnidirectional treadmill and virtual reality headset used to measure bodily motion. In one of our projects, we have been calibrating and troubleshooting our treadmill system that is meant to enhance digital proprioception, or the sense of self-movement and body position, in virtual reality. Furthermore, we have been testing participants' responsiveness to a rubber foot illusion in order to see if the brain can interpret a false foot as its own.

Lyric Rains-Bury performing at Kofenya

"This experience has shifted my future career goals. SPoCC has pushed me more into the cognitive realm of psychology, so I can see myself ending up going into technological research or the research of video games and behavior and decision making. Working with such phenomenal technology and prototypes in the lab allows me to, in a sense, observe the development of the future.

"I feel that my undergraduate research has prepared me in psychology more than any other university could have, so I plan to go to graduate school at Miami to become a cognitive psychologist and researcher. However, I use much of what I learn in psychology to enhance my side career as a music engineer and producer. I incorporate many of the tenets of psychology into the immersiveness of my music.

"Graduate school will help me hone my skills further. I plan to get advice from faculty in the Department of Psychology to help figure out what I should pursue in graduate school, but I am confident that Miami has prepared me more than sufficiently."

Advice to Students

"If you are feeling apprehensive about the whole university experience, you're allowed to. However, just know that when you get to Miami, every single professor you'll ever have will be looking to help you. The most important thing you can do is reach out. If you're having trouble and you make that clear to someone in the classroom, they will do everything they can to help you. Just say, 'Hey, I need help,' and you will never be left behind.

"Put the most effort you can into your work so that professors are more likely to work with you outside of the classroom. Go to their office hours and make connections, especially if you are pursuing graduate school. A connection is the most priceless thing you can have. They will help you study and prepare to get into any graduate program."

[February 2021]