{"id":812,"date":"2017-12-17T21:55:43","date_gmt":"2017-12-17T21:55:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/?p=812"},"modified":"2019-03-07T09:41:35","modified_gmt":"2019-03-07T14:41:35","slug":"diana-cabezas-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/2017\/12\/17\/diana-cabezas-14\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Spotlight: Diana Cabezas ’14"},"content":{"rendered":"

Diana Cabezas graduated in 2014 with a combined BA-MA degree in Psychology<\/a> and has now been accepted and enrolled into a PhD program in Family Science and Human Development<\/a> at Montclair State University.
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“I think it was helpful to have completed a master’s degree before applying to a doctoral program. The MA program guided me to develop research skills and narrow my interest which I believe are instrumental in a doctoral program. Overall, I think that in my experience the program prepared me to continue my education as a doctoral student,” she said.<\/p>\n

What are your career goals?<\/h2>\n

“My future career goals will be to work closely with community-based organizations that aid Latina immigrant women and families. I would like to become an advocate and hopefully help develop culturally relevant programs that assist immigrant women.\u00a0Also, I\u00a0aspire to contribute to the research field by examining perinatal mental health disparities among Latina immigrant women.<\/p>\n

The FSHD program offers various fieldwork opportunities that extend beyond the lab. I am a part-time student, and the program has helped me to become involved in various ways. The program\u2019s social justice emphasis is central to my interests as it has strengthened me as a scholar and advocate for Latino immigrant families.”<\/p>\n

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First-Person Account from Diana Cabezas in 2014 on the BA\/MA Program in General Psychology<\/h2>\n

I started at Montclair State University in 2009, and as a freshman was unsure of what major to declare. I found myself switching constantly until my first semester as a sophomore, when I discovered an interest in psychology. I became fascinated with the courses offered and developed great relationships with the professors and students. Through the courses and relationships with faculty, I became more involved in the field. My primary goal was to obtain a Bachelor\u2019s degree in four years. Little did I think that I would leave with a Bachelors and a Masters degree in psychology, all in only 5 years!<\/em><\/p>\n

I applied to the Psychology Department\u2019s BA\/MA Program in General Psychology in early April of 2012. I was unsure of what to expect as a member of the BA\/MA class, yet I was eager to learn. I was interested in clinical or counseling psychology, but was not sure if I wanted to commit the additional 4 plus years to a Ph.D. program- at least not just yet. I believed that the BA\/MA program would allow me to acquire more skills in order to find a job close to my interest.<\/em><\/p>\n

The program did that and much more! Not only did I graduate in May 2014 with a Masters, but I found a job as a case worker for an immigration and refugee service in a non-profit organization. There I will be working with families and children who have been separated, helping them reunite and adjust to their new situations. To say the least I am amazed and glad to work for this organization because my Master\u2019s Thesis examined how Latino immigrants coped with and adjusted to their new homes and communities in the United States. I feel that I can definitely apply the knowledge I obtained from my research to my new job. I am looking forward to this new opportunity and I am glad I enrolled in the BA\/MA program. It helped me to define and pursue my interests and to develop lasting friendships.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Diana Cabezas graduated in 2014 with a combined BA-MA degree in Psychology and has now been accepted and enrolled into a PhD program in Family Science and Human Development at Montclair State University. “I think it was helpful to have completed a master’s degree before applying to a doctoral program. The MA program guided me […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":888,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=812"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119256,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/812\/revisions\/119256"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}