April Spearance ’08 has combined two of her loves into research at St. Lawrence. April, a Canton, N.Y., native and graduate of Hugh C. Williams High School in Canton, is a psychology major and a sports and exercise science minor, as well as a performance and communication arts minor. “I have really close relationships with the faculty in the psychology department,” she says.  “I don’t feel as though it’s a faculty-student relationship; I feel I can open up to them about personal things, too.”

The summer before she came to St. Lawrence, April discovered sports psychology.  She explains, “It combined two things I really liked: helping people, and sports.”

April received a University Fellowship for summer 2006 and worked with her advisor, Prof. Cheryl Stuntz, on a research project titled “Coach-Athlete and Teammate Holistic Relationships: Scale Development and Measurement of Influence on Motivational Factors. “I wanted to look at how well your coach and teammates know you personally and how it affects your motivation within the sport,” she says.

A member of the psychology honorary organization, April was also a member of the women’s track and field team until injuries forced her to stop competing.  Something she cherishes about her St. Lawrence experience is the relationships she’s formed with her teammates and coaches.  “I learned how to get along with different people,” she says. “There are so many relationships you can form in a team so large and diverse.  I really enjoy that.”

April also loves the small-school feel St. Lawrence offers.  “Since I was 10 years old, I’ve loved this University,” she says. “I like the atmosphere on campus.  When I walk down the sidewalk I recognize nine out of the 10 people I see.  I’m very social and like to know a lot of people.”