Lives in: Boston, MA 

Majors: Psychological science and environmental studies 

Why psychology? “I started out as an ENVS major. But In my sophomore year, I took a few behavior change classes for my minor and was immediately interested in understanding the psychological levers and patterns that drive us all. After joining a friend for an Intro to Psychology lecture, I realized I wanted to explore psychology more deeply, so I became a double-major, adding psychology.”  

Current position: Executive Operations Manager & Investor Relations Associate at Sublime Systems 

What work looks like: “I work closely with the CEO and C-Suite team at a climate-tech startup that has invented a novel, low-carbon way to make cement. Some days, I’m heads-down, researching industry market trends and building pitch decks. Other days, I’m leading lab tours and organizing leadership offsites.” 

What she loves about it: “I really enjoy wearing so many hats and being surrounded by people who are equally motivated to make a difference in our world.” 

How a liberal arts education prepared her for her career: “Having a wide breadth of courses has developed my interdisciplinary and critical thinking, research and analysis acumen, communication (both written and oral), and general adaptability. Being comfortable synthesizing across disciplines and applying framework thinking to problem-solving has been a superpower. Majoring in both ENVS and psychological science gave me multiple frameworks to approach problems, whether I’m thinking about climate policy, investor motivations, or internal dynamics.  It’s hard to know exactly what you want to do at 18. Having the flexibility to pursue vastly different majors exposed me to a wide array of interests. Without that, I wouldn’t have been able to home in on what makes me most energized—or developed the balanced skillset to excel in new settings.” 

Live in: Boston, MA 

Ph.D. program: Clinical psychology  

Why clinical psychology? “I liked the versatility in the degree to be able to train in psychotherapy and clinical practice while simultaneously learning research skills. Clinical practice and research training are complementary skill sets and two different ways of helping treat various conditions.” 

Current positions: Assistant Professor in Psychiatry and Medicine at Harvard Medical School; Associate Director of HPRIR Addiction Science Research and Programs; Core Research Faculty at MGH Center for Addiction Medicine and MGH Tobacco Research and Treatment Center; Staff Psychologist at MGH SUD Bridge Clinic 

What work looks like: “I conduct patient-oriented research developing and testing treatments for addiction, and my current focus is on tobacco use disorder and opioid use disorder. I also am a practicing clinical psychologist and provide low threshold therapy to adults in treatment at our MGH Bridge Clinic.” 

What she loves about it: “I value the collaborations with others and love learning with others who have the same or different research interests to me. I also am honored to serve as a therapist while patients are on their addiction recovery journey and learn as much from my patients as I do from my colleagues.” 

How a liberal arts education prepared her for her career: “Having a well-rounded education has been very important to me. It taught me the value of collaborating with others, the importance of respecting diverse viewpoints, and the utility of the scientific method. Those skills have helped me get where I am professionally today.”

Lives in: Portland, OR 

Major/minor: Psychology major, Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies minor 

Why psychology? “I loved learning about the intersections of mental, physical, spiritual, and environmental wellbeing, and I thought I might want to pursue a career in mental health services. I also ended up really enjoying learning about the history of psychological theories and how they continue to evolve with research.” 

Current position: Oncology Social Worker (LCSW) at Providence Cancer Institute 

What work looks like: “As the licensed clinical social worker at a radiation oncology clinic, I provide individual counseling and group-based support to patients throughout the course of their cancer care, from diagnosis to the end of treatment.” 

What she loves about it: “I enjoy the fast pace and variability of the hospital setting; each day I learn something new. Cancer tends to upend people’s lives without warning, and the path forward is full of unknowns. I am humbled to walk alongside them in this tender time. My goal is to lighten the burden, and sometimes the smallest intervention can cause surprisingly large ripples. One of my favorite parts is witnessing the healing that takes place when patients connect with each other in support groups.” 

How a liberal arts education prepared her for her career: “Many of the courses I took opened my eyes to new perspectives and taught me to be less assumptive and more open-minded. I feel that my liberal arts education enabled me to challenge myself, think outside the box, and think critically. Those critical thinking skills are often put to the test as I come up with new solutions to help patients and their families understand and access their cancer care, particularly for those with lower health literacy. I need to always remain open-minded and honor that "quality of life" means something different to each person. I strive to provide space for patients to make decisions about their treatment based on their own goals. This is one of the most fulfilling parts of my work.” 

Lives in: Charlotte, NC 

Major/minor: Psychological science major, business administration minor 

Why psychology? “When I first graduated from high school, I thought I wanted to become a therapist, so I decided to major in psych. I also realized that if I were to change my mind, psych would be versatile enough to allow me to pivot. Turns out I was right!  

Current position: Media Strategy Manager at Brightspeed 

What work looks like: “I work for a startup telecommunications company in the consumer marketing department, focusing on our company's paid social and programmatic media campaigns. I work directly with our media agency to implement and optimize consumer-facing campaigns and launch new initiatives within those media channels.” 

What she loves about it: “We are always trying to find innovative ways to utilize the new features each channel releases and better ways to engage our target audiences within our campaigns. Every day involves learning something new and problem solving for new business hurdles that arise, so my job never feels stagnant.” 

How a liberal arts education prepared her for her career: 

“Pursuing a liberal arts degree allowed me to take a variety of classes, like anthropology, biopsychology, and statistics. That diversity helped me build problem-solving skills, the ability to think critically about research and data, and adaptability. It also gave me a solid base to understand different viewpoints, and that’s something that is beneficial for any profession. My particular job requires me to do a lot of data analysis, and my degree gave me lots of exposure on how to interpret that data, considering outside factors that might be influencing them and pushing back when necessary. I feel strongly that my education gave me a solid base to gain success in my career. While I entered college with a specific profession in mind, I ended up doing something entirely different—and my liberal arts degree helped set me up for success either way. It gave me a strong foundation of skills to launch my professional career in the direction I wanted.” 

Hayley Perelman ’10, Ph.D. 

Lives in: Berkeley Heights, NJ 

Major: Bio-behavioral psychology 

Why psychology? “During college I was pre-med but loved psychology, and this major allowed me to incorporate the required lab sciences while also taking many psychology classes.” 

Current position: Licensed Psychologist and Sport Psychologist in private practice 

What work looks like: “I see patients virtually (I am licensed in several states, including VT) from my home office. I specialize in sport psychology, transitions into/out of sport and athlete identity, eating disorders/disordered eating, body image, anxiety, perfectionism, and other life transitions.” 

What she loves about it: “As a parent to a 2-year-old, right now I love how flexible my job is, since I set my own hours. I get to be a really present mom and also do a rewarding job. In terms of my clients, I’ve been working with some for several years, and it’s a privilege to walk in their world and watch them grow and build a life worth living.” 

How a liberal arts education prepared her for her career: “Having a liberal arts education helped me build my critical thinking abilities. I still occasionally reflect on the English and philosophy courses I had to take—those were so hard for me because they engaged my brain in such a different way. I also took some awesome neuroscience classes that helped to not only build those critical thinking skills but to also begin to understand how the biology of the brain, body, and emotions are connected. Now, when I’m explaining to a patient how anxiety, fear, and stress function, for example, I’m still able to give detailed information about what this looks like biologically in the brain.”