Brooke Moen
Name: Brooke Moen
Hometown: Chapin, S.C.
Year in School: Senior
Major: Psychology
A big move in high school put the possibility in motion for Brooke Moen to attend Coastal Carolina University. The senior psychology major was living in a rural part of Michigan when she moved to Chapin, S.C., and enrolled in a much bigger high school. Calling the regional switch “a learning experience,” Brooke made the most of it and learned a lot. When the time came to look at colleges, it only took a campus tour for Brooke to realize that she was destined to become a Chanticleer.
To know who Brooke is, you have to start off with Students Helping Others Reach Excellence (SHORE). A student organization dedicated to providing event programming and outreach for Counseling Services, Brooke has invested a lot of time in the initiative. With three years of experience under her belt, Brooke is now the program’s coordinator.
“SHORE, other than class, is my living, breathing home,” Brooke says with admiration.
Although Brooke will be the first one to tell you that SHORE is her primary love at CCU, she is very much involved in other activities as well. She is a research assistant who is helping with a study that focuses on a cognitive behavioral therapy system that will hopefully treat depressed cancer patients without added roadblocks and inconveniences. She is also one of the key students responsible for organizing the Out of the Darkness Campus Walk for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As chair of the foundation, Brooke helped CCU raise nearly $20,000, the most of any South Carolina university.
But her time at Coastal is not defined by titles, accomplishments or fundraising dollars raised. Rather, it is about those on campus she has shared her CCU adventure with.
“The people I have met and the memories I have made with those people are priceless to me,” Brooke reflects when speaking about what she has valued most while at CCU.
Once she graduates in May, Brooke plans to attend graduate school to further her psychology education. Our University has sure enjoyed having such an open, motivated student on campus. Brooke has done a lot for the greater good of #TEALnation and we are impressed at her desire to have a #CCUPositiveImpact.
Q&A with Brooke
How did you hear about Coastal?: I moved from Michigan to South Carolina in high school, and I had vacationed many times as a child in Myrtle Beach so when it came to touring schools, I knew Coastal was definitely the place for me.
Why did you come to Coastal?: As soon as I stepped on Coastal’s campus I felt comfortable and welcomed. Being close to the beach allowed me the freedom to escape near the water like I do back home on Lake Murray. I loved everything Coastal had to offer, I immediately told my mom I was done searching and that I had found my University.
Favorite professor: Marlena Ryba, Ph.D.
Favorite class: Tied between Biology 242 with Professor Senchak, Physiological Psychology with William King, Ph.D., or any English class with Lane Osborne.
Favorite aspect of Coastal?: How helpful the students, staff and faculty are here at Coastal. The environment is so open, everyone wants to encourage one another to push themselves and turn their dreams into realities. I always tell people, if you don’t know how to do something and you want to, there is someone here that would love to take the time and teach you the skills you seek to succeed. I absolutely love that.
Favorite aspect of living in the Conway/Myrtle Beach area?: All of the different things it has to offer. There is something here for everyone, my favorite being the beach.
Clubs/Intramurals/other extracurricular activities involved in?: I serve as parliamentarian on the executive board for Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.
Do you work anywhere currently (either on or off campus)?: I am the coordinator of the SHORE Peer Educators located in the LiveWell Office.
Plans after graduation?: Attend graduate school to further my education in psychology.
What are your hobbies?: I like to spend time with friends and family as I really cherish all the memories I make with people. I also love spending time by the water.
Do you have any hidden talents?: Functioning with no sleep and eating a large pizza in one sitting.
Bonus Info:
I am chair for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Out of The Darkness Campus Walk. Last year’s walk received national recognition at the NASPA BACCHUS General Assembly convention at the beginning of this month. We raised just under $20,000 for suicide prevention last spring which was the highest out of any university in South Carolina.
I also am a part of Marlena Ryba’s, Ph.D., Treatment Outcome Research in Clinical and Health Psychology (TORCH) lab as a research assistant and Beating the Blues coach. Soon we will be launching Coastal’s first ever clinical trial at the beginning of the new semester. Our research will offer coached online cognitive behavioral therapy to depressed cancer patients in our state.
