Maya Postigo

What made you want to come to Lewis & Clark?

Lewis & Clark College provided me with a generous financial aid package that I am very grateful for. In addition, they flew me out through the former Compass Scholar Program for low-income students of color or first-generation students to spend a weekend at L&C. The experience of being hosted by a current student, being able to sit in on a class, and get to meet professors and staff in person is something I am very grateful for because it made me feel like the school really wanted me and cared about me. I also knew that moving to the U.S. would be a big change and I liked that the school had a large international and Third Culture Kid student population and a whole office dedicated to supporting us. I chose L&C because I felt I would be supported by the institution and find a sense of belonging.

What have you been doing since graduation?

I have spent the past two years since graduating working as a clinical research assistant and program manager for the Listos: School Readiness Lab at Oregon Health & Science University.

In my work I engage Latino parents, pediatricians, and early childhood educators to co-design and evaluate interventions and programs to be used in pediatric clinics to promote school readiness among preschool-aged children and parents (primarily Latino) on Medicaid.

How did Lewis & Clark prepare you for your job?

My major prepared me well with the foundations to conduct clinical research and understand child development and social behavior. Additionally, I got the chance to work with Professors Diana Leonard and Jolina Ruckert in their labs and got funding through SAAB to present research at a conference and also co-authored a publication! These experiences were crucial in getting me inspired to pursue a career in research and gain the necessary experience. My extracurricular experiences as a student mentor, co-president, co-chair, and facilitator were also invaluable experiences that prepared me to organize events, facilitate meetings and talks, communicate with diverse people, and mentor interns in my current job.

What would you say is the most important thing you learned at Lewis & Clark?

My four years at L&C were the most transformative years of my life. I would say the biggest lesson I learned was the value of having a growth-mindset, stepping outside of your comfort zone to embrace new opportunities, and using your resources. At L&C I was exposed to so many new ideas, people, places, experiences, and opportunities both inside and outside the classroom that challenged my preconceptions and helped me understand myself and others better. I learned that asking for help, making mentors, using all the resources L&C has, and getting involved on campus were the secret to growth, success, and building a community.

How do you stay connected to Lewis & Clark as an alum?

Living in Portland allows me to stay connected to L&C as an alumna through attending the different local events put on by the Alumni Association, especially the young alumni events. This way I can connect with other recent alumni and current students and learn from everyone’s different trajectories, network, and also reminisce about our L&C days. I am also excited to join the newly inaugurated Latinx/Hispanic Alumni Group and find ways to support our current Latinx students as alumni.

What did you like or find most interesting about your major?

I feel so lucky to have studied psychology because I felt like learning about human behavior and how the individual interacts with the environment gave me so much deep insight into myself and others in a way that no other major does and it can be applied almost instantly to improve the quality of your everyday life and your relationships. I love how solution-oriented and practical psychology is.

What was your favorite class? How did it expand your knowledge?

My favorite class was the Advanced Social Psychology: Focus on Intergroup Relations capstone course with Dr. Diana Leonard. It expanded my knowledge of how social identities play a huge role in the way people interact across groups and it helped me better understand group conflict and how intergroup relations can be improved through reconciliation processes and collective healing. I also got to write my thesis on multiracial identity and social anxiety  and this was a very powerful experience to design and conduct a research study driven by my own identity and experiences.

Psychology