“When I think of Rose, the word jongleuse comes to mind,” said professor Jacqueline Vansant. 

Jongleuse, meaning juggler, is a word Rose Richards also uses to describe herself. While most would be daunted by the idea of a seven-day workweek, she balances school, work, community service and her independent research gracefully.

With a major in psychology, Rose is fascinated by the brain. A musician and lover of languages, Rose is fluent in German and has been able to turn her passions into research, working on an independent study combining music history and music theory in German. 

Rose has furthered her research through an internship with U-M Health System’s Psychiatry-Neuropsychology Clinic in Ann Arbor, and she is using data from the ADHD clinic to develop her honors thesis.

For Rose, this is just preparation for her future career. Rose has logged more than 350 hours volunteering as a mentor for at-risk preschoolers and hopes to continue to work on research to help children.

“I plan on pursuing a career in clinical neuropsychology,” she said. “I want to conduct research in various areas, but especially on neurodevelopmental disorders like ADHD because I want to give back to children. Nothing is more satisfying than knowing that I have made a positive impact on the world around me.”

Rose plans to continue her education abroad, pursuing her master’s degree in neurocognitive psychology in Munich, Germany.