Charles Smith

Year in program: 2020

UCLA Mentors: Dr. India Nichols

HBCU Mentors: Dr. Valerie Haftel

Current Institution: Morehouse College

Growing up in Tennessee, Charles always had a passion for understanding the mind. This led him to develop a keen interest in understanding how social, psychological and physiological factors alter a person’s ability to store and retrieve memories, as well as affect the learning process. His overall goal is to improve academic success by understanding how negative factors, such as stress, imposter syndrome, poor eating habits and sleep schedules, makes it harder for students to succeed. Outside of learning and memory-based research, Charles also enjoys spending time with his dogs, abstract painting and taking pictures of beautiful scenery.