To: fms11@psu.

edu
From: czb5676@psu.edu
Subject: Supervising My ACURA Project
Dear Dr. Sessa,
Hello and happy (almost) Thanksgiving! My name is Corinne Bohnel and I am a freshman
student here at Penn State Abington. I am writing to you to see if you are interested in
supervising my ACURA project. This project is focused on how the consumption of alcohol in
college students relates to social behavior and what the main influences are.
While researching more in depth about this topic, I wrote an annotated bibliography on the
articles that correlated with my research topic, so please take a look if you would like. I noticed
that a lot of the articles said something in common: “alcohol consumption is used strategically
for social purposes” (Applied Psychology Health and Well-Being). It’s called, “social drinking”
for the reason that most students between the ages 15-20 feel pressured into drinking.
Particularly focusing on college students, their new environment often leads students towards
social outlets, or escapes, and in this case, that is alcohol. For my project, I am primarily
focusing on the social effects that alcohol has on college students, as well as the reasoning
behind their decisions when it comes to the consumption of alcohol.
In addition to investigating more on this topic, I realized that your research interests correlate
significantly with my research topic, which is ultimately why I believe you and I would work
well together on this project. One of your interests, the framing of decisions among college
students goes with the realization that college students are considered adults and need to make
their own choices, which, alcohol and drugs may be relevant to that topic. This is also important
in the realization of what a healthy decision is vs. an unhealthy decision. Also, another one of
your research interests I noticed was differential predictors of healthy and risky behaviors during
the transition to adulthood. This would be an interesting detail to consider while researching for
this project because alcohol consumption of adolescents is considered a risky behavior, and the
transition to adulthood is college years.
I would like you to work with me because I believe that you have a lot to offer and your
knowledge of this topic will enhance my project overall . If possible, I would like an answer by
Monday, December 3 , as I wish to begin the project by the beginning of next semester and
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continue it through next fall. Although I have confidence that you would be a great supervisor
for my ACURA project, I understand that you have many other responsibilities and are busy with
other obligations. Therefore, feel free to let me know if you are not capable of working with me
at this time.
Thank you and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Kindly,
Corinne Bohnel
--
Corinne Bohnel
BA in Psychology, Prospective Graduate
Pennsylvania State University, Class of 2022