Psychology and Child Development

College of Liberal Arts

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What are you doing after graduation?

This is what some of our upcoming and recent graduates are planning:


Alan Aung, psychology senior, hopes to attend medical school.

Kayla Bakhshi, psychology senior, will work as a marketing manager at a startup called Mylk Guys based in San Francisco.

Grace Barosky, psychology grad student, plans to move to Bakersfield and find a position as an associate marriage and family therapist working with youth and families.

Emily Biekert, psychology senior, will work for Front Porch, a local/near to campus non-profit. She also hopes to become a substitute paraprofessional with SLCUSD.

Emily Brown, psychology senior, will attend the Master of Medical Science in Genetic Counseling program at Emory University.

McKenna Burns, child development senior, will travel through Australia and then move to Europe to teach on a US military base for the next year. She hopes to attend grad school in Colorado to earn a master’s degree in developmental psychology.

Rachel Busike, child development senior, is completing prerequisites for graduate programs in occupational therapy.

Jasmine Cervantes, psychology senior, will attend the master’s program in forensic psychology at the University of Denver in the fall. She is also interviewing with the Institute of Reading Development. She hopes to work as a teacher this summer before heading to Denver. Her long- term plan is to apply to PsyD programs in clinical psychology and eventually work as a forensic psychologist and lecturer.

Maddie Chae, psychology senior, hopes to pursue a master’s degree in social work (MSW).

Winston Chang, psychology senior, hopes to attend a master’s degree program in counseling psychology.

Maddy Coronado, psychology senior, will attend a PsyD program at Alliant University in Los Angeles.

Janelle Fellenz, psychology senior, will become certified as a yoga teacher, and plans to enroll in the Institute of Integrative Nutrition's Health Coach program.

Jordan Foletta, psychology senior, will pursue a master’s degree in forensic psychology at Arizona State University.

Jessica Gallagher, child development senior, will be a full-time teacher at the Orfalea Family and ASI Children’s Center at Cal Poly.

Taylor Gilbertson, psychology senior, will perform a year of service with AmeriCorps City Year New York.

Olivia Gore, psychology senior, will attend a PsyD Clinical Psychology program with an emphasis in forensic psychology at Azusa Pacific University. Her goal is to work with incarcerated populations or people otherwise affected by the criminal justice system.

Sarah Hart, psychology senior, will work at Family Care Network as a Rehabilitation Specialist.

Jenna Hoyle, child development senior, hopes to begin a multiple subject teaching credential program in the fall.

McCall Kistler (Psychology, '19), will attend a master’s degree program in social work at the University of Denver.

Daniel Kono, psychology senior, is concurrently earning a B.S. in Wildland Fire Science from CSU San Marcos and he plans to continue his career in the fire service. He began working for CAL FIRE / San Luis Obispo in September 2017 as a Firefighter/EMT. He plans to move to a department either in Santa Clara or Ventura County.

Rebecca Krieger, psychology senior, will be a product manager at Microsoft.

Nikisha Lad, child development senior, will attend the master’s degree in social work (MSW) program at SDSU.

Sarah Larkin (Child Development, '19), plans to take a year off and then attend an occupational therapy program.

Chase Laurent, psychology senior, will attend the University of San Francisco Law School.

Mytien Le, psychology senior, will work at 360 Behavioral Health (previously known as California PsychCare) as a part-time Behavior Interventionist working mainly with children and teenagers with autism. She will continue working on campus with Dr. Bennion in her research lab while also remotely working with Dr. Ann Hartlage at Rush Hospital on her research about autism. She also plans to apply to grad school for next fall.

Madisen MacDonald, child development senior, will pursue a multiple subject teaching credential and master’s degree in education.

Elise Mahaffey, child development senior, will be a summer intern at the Yale Mind and Development Lab. Then she will move to Newark, New Jerssey to work as a lab manager with the Child Study Center and the Computational Cognitive Development Lab at Rutgers University. Her hope is to go on to attend graduate school to pursue a doctorate in developmental psychology. Eventually, she would like to have a career in research, either as a faculty at a university, or for a child advocacy organization such as the Children's Defense Fund.

Meghan Malloy, psychology senior, will begin a master’s degree in marriage and family therapy next year at Chapman University. She hopes to open a private practice, and to eventually attain a doctorate in clinical psychology and become a professor.

Rachel McCarthy, psychology grad student, plans to continue working as a therapist at Stand Strong. She works primarily with survivors of domestic violence and is enjoying working towards licensure.

Allena McComas, psychology senior, plans to take a year to travel, apply to graduate programs, and continue to live in San Luis Obispo and prepare for grad school. She hopes to attend a PsyD program the following year.

Keegan Meadows, psychology senior, will attend the master of science in psychology program at Cal Poly.

Michaela Mellor, child development senior, will remain at Cal Poly to attend a credential program.

Brenna Merchant, child development senior, plans to obtain her multiple subject teaching credential. In the future she hopes to pursue the field of speech pathology.

Lauren Messina-Douvos, child development senior, will work as an assistant teacher in a Montessori toddler classroom in the East Bay Area. She will be returning to the site she attended as a toddler and she is very excited to come full circle and begin her teaching career in a community where she has a personal connection.

Sara Miller, child development senior, will teach at a forest school in Columbia, MO.

Tori Morris, psychology senior, will be a summer camp counselor in Yosemite (YSSC). This fall she will go to Spain as an au pair and continue taking Spanish. In the winter and spring, she will work with foster children in Rosarito, Mexico. She will also apply to MFT graduate programs for fall 2020.

Adrienne Ocampo, child development senior, will work at Hamilton Families in San Francisco as a housing stability specialist. Hamilton Families is a non-profit organization that houses and supports families at high-risk for chronic homelessness. She hopes to gain experience that can lead to graduate school.

Daisy Ordaz, child development senior, will attend Cal Poly’s Master in Special Education/Education Specialist Credential Program.

Karina Orozco, psychology senior, will attend a master’s degree program in organizational psychology at Alliant International University in San Diego. She is interested in eventually becoming a training and development specialist for a consulting firm.

MacKenzie Parry, child development senior, plans to relocate to Fort Collins, CO.

Isabella Perlman (Child Development, '19), plans to work as a paraprofessional in an elementary school. She hopes to become a school psychologist.

Amber Riekki, child development senior, plans to attend a credential program, ideally Cal State Teach, to earn a multiple subject credential and hopes to become an elementary school teacher in 1st-3rd grade.

Monica Rin, psychology senior, plans to pursue a master’s degree in Christian counseling and hopes to work at Mountainbrook Church in children’s ministry.

Rachel Rudolph, child development senior, will be a nanny and then travel to Southeast Asia to teach English. She hopes to attend a graduate program for LMFT or LSCW.

Susanna Sashoyan, child development senior, will work full time as a teacher for CAPSLO.

Brooke Sasia, psychology senior, will manage Dr. Cacciamani’s research laboratory and continue her involvement in other research projects on campus. She will also be working as a psychometrist for Psychological and Educational Assessments for Kids and Students (PEAKS) clinic in San Luis Obispo. She plans to apply to doctorate programs in clinical psychology, and she would eventually like to work in academia and have a balance of teaching, research, and clinical work.

Nathaniel Schenck, psychology senior, plans to relocate to Fresno and work in the education field. He hopes to attend a K-12 school counselor/ school psychology graduate program.

Allison Scranton, child development senior, will teach English in India, and plans to attain a teaching credential and master’s degree and teach elementary school.

Melina Sneesby, psychology senior, plans to work for 1-2 years in a clinical psychology related research lab in a hospital as a lab coordinator/research assistant. She will also apply to clinical psychology doctorate programs.

Itzel (Izzy) Tapia, psychology senior, will work for social services before attending a master’s degree program. She plans to focus on clinical psychology and research in the areas of schizophrenia and anti-personality disorder.

Emma Warren, psychology senior, plans to become an intern with a school psychologist from September through December while also applying to graduate school. She also plans to travel to Chile, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Costa Rica.

Marina Wesner, psychology senior, plans to apply to grad school for experimental psychology and neuroscience in the fall of this year.

Mika Williams, child development senior, hopes to begin a multiple subject teaching credential program in the fall.

Marissa Zambrano, psychology senior, plans to pursue a master’s degree in social work (MSW). She hopes to become a social worker for child welfare.

 


Read more from the 2019 Newsletter

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