A Day in the Life of an IO Psychology PhD Candidate: Cedrick Pruitt

Cedrick Pruitt's relationship with psychology didn't begin with a plan. It began with a high school elective that caught his attention instantly.

Eager to work, Cedrick decided to pursue his bachelor's in English/Writing, without the desire at the time to get a master's degree afterwards. For years, that decision held. What reopened the door wasn't a class or a career plan; it was travel.

Working as an ESL teacher abroad put Cedrick in constant contact with people navigating unfamiliar systems, unfamiliar languages, unfamiliar expectations. It renewed something in him: a fascination with what makes people thrive, and what motivates them to keep going. That eventually led him back to psychology, although this time through the lens of Industrial-Organizational Psychology.

A Dissertation Shaped by His Own Life

Cedrick is currently still teaching ESL while also working through his PhD candidacy. His dissertation focuses on the lived experiences of Western expat teachers in the UAE as they move through selection and assessment processes. It's research grounded in something he has lived himself, year after year, in classrooms far from where he started.

Two Very Different Kinds of Days

Ask Cedrick what a typical day looks like, and the honest answer depends entirely on where he is in his research cycle. Some days are for editing and writing; others are for follow-ups and waiting for approvals. He says the first task isn't the writing itself but making space to think.

"I try to make some space for myself to sit and think about where I want to go in my work or paper. Once I map that out, it's easier to get into a flow state and add to my work."

Cedrick has learned to treat that waiting period as something to manage deliberately rather than let it drain him. "I cannot run myself down," he says, "because that will ruin the creativity that you need to plan properly."

On other days, planning, preparing, and teaching fill his time.

What He Wishes He'd Known Sooner

If Cedrick could go back and talk to his high school or college self, he wouldn't warn himself off any particular decision. He'd tell himself something simpler: how much he loved learning the things he actually liked, the things he found himself curious about, pondering upon naturally.

Like a lot of students, Cedrick grew up under a quiet weight of parental expectation. The version of success his family had envisioned for him, built from whatever abilities he'd shown as a child. It wasn't until after undergrad that his own appetite for learning, on his own terms, became something he couldn't ignore. He started buying older, cheaper editions of textbooks and reading them in his free time, just because he wanted to understand people in measurable ways. "I think we all can attain a level of mastery," he says, "if we follow our curiosity."

Finding the Right Corner of Psychology

Cedrick's advice to any student curious about psychology is the same thing he'd tell his college self: psychology isn't one thing. There are entirely different ways of studying people, and the real question is what you're trying to find out.

For Cedrick, that meant ruling things out. He didn't have the "heart" for clinical work. What he actually wanted was to understand what success looks like from a psychological perspective, and all the measurement underneath that question. That drive is what eventually pointed him toward Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

His practical advice for figuring that out early: find out what a day in the life actually looks. "As a kid, I had friends that knew they wanted to become doctors until they realized the sight of blood made them sick," he says. "Find the practical day-to-day, and that will aid in your decision."

On Changing Direction

Cedrick doesn't see his own career shift where he went from English/Writing back to psychology, from a plan built on getting a job quickly to a PhD built on years of research. He sees it as natural.

"We all start in a stage defined by idealism and potentially changing the world," he says. "Afterwards, we find out that the world changes us. If we're careful, we can be better for that change." To him, it's simply nature taking its course, as he feels like he's becoming more himself through a transformative journey of mastery.

What His Students Taught Him

Some of Cedrick's clearest lessons about people didn't come from research; they came from the classroom. During his years teaching ESL, he regularly found himself trying to connect with individuals or entire groups from cultural backgrounds he'd never encountered before. Working through that unfamiliarity together, again and again, taught him as much about himself as it did about the people he was teaching.

"I feel like I have learned a great deal more from my students than they have learned from me," he says, "and I'm thankful for that."

On AI and What's Changing

Cedrick sees AI as a leveling force. Knowledge and methods that were once hidden behind gatekeeping or expertise are now a click away, available to anyone willing to use them. "It is the ultimate assistant," he says, "and this seems like a turning point internationally."

His Advice to Students

Cedrick's advice to young people considering a path like his comes down to balance, specifically, the balance between action and reflection. If you're someone who's constantly moving, he says, force yourself to sit down and actually think about where you're going and what you want. And if you're an overthinker, recognize that your hesitation isn't really about understanding; it's fear, disguised as needing more clarity, standing between you and starting.

"Find a balance in the cycle."

Cedrick Pruitt, MSIOP

Day in the Life is a Mint Minds series introducing students to the real people behind different careers helping them understand not just what professionals do, but what it actually feels like to work in their field.