| Personal Information | |
|---|---|
| Applicant Name | Lynley Turkelson |
| Applicant Email | Email hidden; Javascript is required. |
| Training Level | Postdoctoral Resident |
| City of Residence | Boston |
| Distance to Chicago, IL | > 2 hour flight |
| Age | 31 |
| Gender identity and pronouns | woman, she/her |
| Have you ever attended an AACN annual meeting? | Yes |
| The following list includes characteristics of historically underrepresented groups. Please select all characteristics that represent you and/or describe other diverse facets of your identity in the “Other” option. |
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| Funding Opportunitites | |
| I would like to be considered for the following funding opportunities. |
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| If selected for both Student Leader/Assistant and SPS Conference Mentor, I would prefer: | SPS Conference Mentor |
| Application for Student Assistant | |
| By applying to be a student assistant, you agree to the following responsibilities/commitments: |  I carefully reviewed the above responsibilities/commitments and agree with all of them. |
| Would you like to be considered for complimentary lodging? | Yes, please. |
| In-Person Volunteer Slots |
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| Application for Conference Leader | |
| Application for Scholarship | Travel scholarship awardees are provided with free conference registration and reimbursement of up to $550 of travel expenses to support conference attendance, including meals, hotel stay, and airfare. |
| Application for Conference Mentor Award | |
| In 500 words or fewer, please describe (1) your prior mentorship experience and what you feel you can offer mentees from historically underrepresented backgrounds at the AACN annual meeting, and (2) how this mentorship experience will contribute to your professional goals. You also may describe the ways in which attending the AACN Annual Meeting would represent a financial hardship for you without this award. | My ability to serve as an AACN mentor is rooted in both my professional and personal experiences. I was raised in a fundamentalist religious community where women were discouraged from working outside the home or pursuing education beyond high school. Growing up, I struggled to reconcile the cognitive dissonance I felt when I compared my intellectual interests to the roles I was prescribed. Thus, the decision to attend a psychology doctoral program was significant for me, as it represented an opportunity to transcend cultural barriers and enter a world I previously thought was inaccessible to me. This lived experience inspired an ongoing passion for both mentorship and creating greater equity and inclusion in the field of neuropsychology. Throughout graduate school, I served in the McNair Scholar’s Mentorship Program where I provided in-depth academic support to first-generation and under-represented undergraduate students interested in completing a doctoral degree. In this role, I helped students navigate academic systems by teaching them about the research process, advising them on their senior research project, connecting them with professional resources, and supporting them through the graduate school application process. I continue to advocate for underrepresented groups as an out lesbian in my capacity as co-chair of the Queer Neuropsychological Society’s Communication Committee and in my ongoing DEI program development projects. Most recently, I developed a six-week cultural self-awareness seminar on anti-black racism for clinicians, which I am scheduled to present to my postdoctoral training site for potential adoption as part of the training program. My DEI experience positions me well to provide supportive mentorship to under-represented students, giving me both increased understanding of the systemic and interpersonal obstacles they may face and increased knowledge of available resources for support (especially for queer trainees). Further, my background has cemented my understanding of my own positionality and the necessity of centering marginalized stakeholders in defining ethical and culturally appropriate neuropsychological care. In order to truly serve marginalized groups, neuropsychologists must elevate the voices of clinicians from those communities. Thus, serving as a mentor aligns with both my personal values and professional goals around confronting barriers and oppressive structures that hinder access for under-represented trainees. I believe my personal background, mentorship experience, and ongoing commitment to justice make me an ideal candidate to serve as a mentor at the 2025 AACN conference. |
| Tiebreaker | 2 |
