Recent graduate Lucas Tan reflects on his time at SCU
Lucas Tan ‘24 graduated in June with a B.S. in Psychology and a Minor in Sustainability, and recently spoke with us about what he enjoyed most about majoring in psychology. From taking engaging classes, to participating in the Psych Honors Program, to conducting research in his home town in the Philippines, Lucas made the most of his time at SCU.
In his own words:
"My favorite class was PSYC 158 (User Experience Research). I found learning about the processes to develop and enhance the experiences we have with technology (something that we rely upon everyday) to be very interesting and captivating. I also enjoyed how the class was a perfect mix of theory and application, and involved an end-to-end user experience research project on a real, tangible item to cap off the class."
Lucas was a member of the Psychology Honors program.
Lucas also gained valuable research experience by working as a research assistant in two Psych labs: the Learning and Remembering Lab with Dr. Simone and Dr. Whitfield his junior year, and the Teaching and Motivation in Education Lab with Dr. Urdan his senior year. He found Dr. Urdan’s research to be so interesting that he initiated his own research project to extend the work to the Philippines. When he was home for summer break, Lucas contacted schools, interviewed numerous teachers, and collected data on education and motivation. He analyzed the data and presented the results at the Alumni Science Research Conference in May 2024.
Despite his full schedule, Lucas managed to find time for fun. He plays tennis recreationally, and has gotten into making sourdough bread. His sourdough starter even survived the 15 hour flight back home! Lucas appreciated that while Psychology professors expect hard work and academic rigor, they also encourage work-life balance, leaving time to relax and have fun.
Following graduation Lucas plans to apply for graduate school in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, while possibly also looking at Human Factors/Human-Computer Interaction. He’s looking forward to working in a psych-related job and investigating grad school options this year.
In his own words:
"My Psych degree at SCU has prepared me for graduate school and beyond very well. The small class sizes allowed me to cultivate good relationships with my professors, and to get involved in psychological research as soon as I could. This research experience not only strengthened my profile for graduate school, but had also allowed me to grow as an individual and as a leader, through completing my own independent research project and helping to develop the skills of newer lab members."