CAHSS Undergrad Traded Dance Career for Psychology Research and Never Looked Back

When Grace Schroeder visited the University of Denver (DU), she was torn between two childhood dreams: becoming a professional ballet dancer or a clinical psychologist. But when her tour guide shared her own experience in the robust undergraduate psychology research program, Schroeder decided to forgo an offer to join a professional dance company and apply to DU instead. 

“I had always wanted to become a therapist after a career in dance but decided to put all my energy into pursuing clinical psychology rather than missing out on the research opportunities DU offered,” she said. 

Schroeder will graduate from the College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences (CAHSS) in June 2026 as a student of distinction, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, concentrated in cognitive neuroscience, and minors in biology and criminology. Her research focuses on anxiety and OCD in children, teens, and young adults in DU’s BRAVE (Behavioral Research for Anxiety Intervention Efficiency) Lab under the guidance of Associate Professor and Brave Lab Director Michelle Rozenman. 

Schroeder is proud to have already contributed to the field's knowledge of emotion regulation in kids in the peer-reviewed journal "Current Developmental Disorders Reports." Her work has developed crucial skills needed for PhD students in clinical psychology. 

“I’ve been lucky to do independent projects that allowed me to design a research study from start to finish, including learning to program and collect data.” 

She credits Rozenman’s close, personal guidance and dedicated support, along with CAHSS’s mentorship model. “Michelle has been such a supportive advocate for me in learning to do things for myself and develop independence and confidence. Whenever I’m exploring a new area of research or a different technique, she offers examples of how to do it, helps me sharpen critical thinking skills, and solve problems I come up against.”

Rozenman calls Schroeder “an exemplary researcher and an absolute pleasure to mentor. She doesn't give up when things don't go to plan and is up for a challenge, even with the most difficult research tasks. She will be a superstar clinical researcher and clinical psychologist one day, and I’m proud to call her my junior colleague.”

Schroeder also expressed gratitude to Psychology Professor Max Weisbuch for welcoming her into his research lab her first year. “He supported me in getting into the clinical lab with Michelle, who is also the professor for the senior honors distinction program, and has been a secondary research mentor,” she said. 

A recipient of the Elsie Lincoln Vandergrift Scholarship, Bernard Spilka Scholarship, and Charlotte Henderson Research Award, Schroeder brings the same drive to her life outside the lab — running marathons and planning to work her way up all 53 of Colorado's fourteeners (15 down, 38 to go). Following graduation, she plans to work full-time in a research lab while applying to PhD programs in clinical psychology, with an eye toward an academic medical center career that balances research with patient care and mentoring the next generation of students.

To high school students weighing their options, Schroeder enthusiastically asserted: 

"I could not have had a better undergrad experience. There is so much support for providing students with different kinds of research and clinical experiences that align with your interests and are insanely valuable for grad school and anything else you want to do."