Humble native makes great strides at Lamar University

Joshua Raglon

Joshua Raglon, psychology major and track-and-field athlete at Lamar University, excels both on and off the field.

Raglon maintains a 3.7 GPA while balancing intensive training and 16 credit hours of classes.

In Fall 2010, Raglon was accepted into the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program, a research program designed to prepare minority and first-generation students at Lamar University for doctoral studies. McNair Scholars propose a research topic to conduct with the help of a faculty member. The projects are presented at the McNair Research Symposium.

Raglon chose to study the effect of different styles of prayer on anxiety. Participants were told they would be taking a difficult math exam. Their anxiety levels were assessed and they were then allowed to pray. The participants' levels of anxiety were measured again to evaluate the effects.

Raglon intends to graduate in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and a minor in sociology before continuing on to graduate school.

For more information about Lamar University or the McNair Scholars program, visit www.lamar.edu/.