Alyssa Hughes grew up in Lethbridge and enrolled at the University of Lethbridge in Fall 2020.
She is currently a 4th year undergraduate student in Kinesiology and Psychology and plans on pursuing a master’s degree after graduation in Spring 2024.
Her interest in sport and exercise psychology stems from her involvement in competitive dance growing up. She has always been passionate about dance and trained in styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, and modern. She competed in dance all over Alberta and western Canada and have successfully completed numerous dance examinations.
Her interest in research was first sparked during a conversation with Dr. Rathwell about the breadth of research and career opportunities in sport psychology. She started working part time as a research assistant in the PALS lab in early 2023 and began working full time over the summer after being awarded the Chinook Summer Research Award.
During that time, she became fully involved in research, working under the supervision of Dr. Pope on her project “Move More Sit Less”. She got to experience and learn about many different aspects of the research process. Her love of learning about improving mental performance in sport and applying it to the context of dance, as well as learning about mental health in athletes involved in aesthetic sports, coupled with her research experience gave her the confidence to start pursuing research interests of her own, leading her to complete an independent study and now her honours thesis. Her honours thesis topic explores body image and emotional regulation from a sport and exercise psychology perspective.
Beyond Alyssa’s achievements in the classroom and research she has developed a strong volunteering resume. This includes being a student dance teacher at her local dance studio, and a volunteer choreographer for the Lethbridge Society of Independent Dance Artists community Spring show. Additionally, she volunteered with Lethbridge Family Centre as an Early Childhood Education assistant, which suggest a strong commitment to helping others.
She is Vice President of Academics for the chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society here at the University of Lethbridge.