SMU professor Susan Hornstein teaches the introductory psychology class at SMU.

Fulfilling the individuals, institutions and cultures pillar one, she realizes that not all of her students are there to learn psychology.

“You know I recognize I have a lot of students who take the course because they really want to be there and they want to learn and major in psychology,” said Hornstein. “But I also know I have a lot of students who really are there to fill a requirement.”

Hornstein wants to reach every one of her students equally.

“I do that by trying to relate psychological concepts to their everyday life and that it really does play a role in the real world,” said Hornstein.

She does that by getting students to talk about their own experiences and incorporating her own life in her PowerPoints.

Her students enjoy seeing her travels.

“She puts a lot of photos from her travels around the world,” said SMU junior Katie Meir. “Pictures from her scuba diving and riding on the backs of elephants into her PowerPoints during class and it does a really good job making us more interested in the class topics and relating things to our lives.”

By doing this Hornstein gets students interested in the subject.

“I’ve been to about 63 countries I think; I’ve lost count.,” said Hornstein.

She recently climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, dove with sharks, hiked with mountain gorillas in Rwanda and traveled to Antarctica.

Hornstein incorporates these travels and more to give a lasting impression to all of her students.