| Personal Information | |
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| Applicant Name | Lyla Wadia |
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| Applicant Email | Email hidden; Javascript is required. |
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| Training Level | Postdoctoral Resident |
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| City of Residence | Stamford |
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| Distance to Chicago, IL | > 2 hour flight |
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| Age | 32 |
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| Gender identity and pronouns | Female (she/her) |
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| Have you ever attended an AACN annual meeting? | Yes |
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| The following list includes characteristics of historically underrepresented groups. Please select all characteristics that represent you and/or describe other diverse facets of your identity in the “Other” option. | - Asian
- Bilingual/multilingual
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| Funding Opportunitites | |
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| I would like to be considered for the following funding opportunities. | - Student/Trainee Leader
- Student/Trainee Assistant
- SPS Conference Mentor
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| If selected for both Student Leader/Assistant and SPS Conference Mentor, I would prefer: | Student Leader/Assistant |
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| Application for Student Assistant | |
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| By applying to be a student assistant, you agree to the following responsibilities/commitments: |  I carefully reviewed the above responsibilities/commitments and agree with all of them.
Job responsibilities:
- Cover shifts at the Help Desk.
- Help with scanning attendees for CE workshops.
- Maintain regular communication with student conference leaders and help problem solve any issues that arise.
- Attend a one-hour orientation virtually before the conference.
Time commitment:
- Six to nine hours over the course of the conference.
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| Would you like to be considered for complimentary lodging? | Yes, please. |
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| In-Person Volunteer Slots | - Thursday, June 12, 2025 (Morning)
- Thursday, June 12, 2025 (Afternoon)
- Friday, June 13, 2025 (Morning)
- Friday, June 13, 2025 (Afternoon)
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| Application for Conference Leader | |
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| By applying to be a conference leader, you agree to the following responsibilities/commitments: | I carefully reviewed the above responsibilities/commitments and agree with all of them.
Job responsibilities:
- Attend select Conference Committee meetings. These currently occur the first Wednesday of the month at 4 PM ET.
- Help recruit student assistants via listservs and organizations (e.g., AACN, INS, etc.).
- Communicate with prospective student assistants regularly via email, text message, and/or online meetings as needed.
- Organize pertinent information (e.g., contact info, tentative availability during the conference).
- Schedule 1-2 training sessions with student assistants (using videoconferencing). Review job duties and answer questions with support from the Technology Manager and Conference Co-Chair(s).
- Keep up with changes that are made throughout the recruitment phase to assure all students assistants are updated.
- Create a schedule for student assistants based on availability and conference needs.
- Communicate job duties with student assistants.
- Problem solve changes to the schedule.
- Cover shifts at the Help Desk.
- Support student assistants and keep things organized.
- Maintain regular communication with your co-coordinator to problem solving if any issues that arise.
- Communicate with the Technology Manager, Conference Co-Chair(s), local event planners, Education Chair, and President as needed. Relay solutions to student assistants.
Time commitment:
- 1-2 hours per month for attending meetings.
- Spring time leading up to the conference: Up to 15 hours per week creating and editing the schedule as well as communicating with your co-coordinator, committee, and student assistants.
- Arrive at conference Tuesday evening or Wednesday (6/11/24 or 6/12/24) before registration opens on Wednesday early afternoon and remain available through late afternoon Saturday (6/14/23) when the conference ends.
- Cover the Help Desk approximately three 4-hour shifts (12 hours total).
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| Are you actively involved (e.g., leadership/service position, volunteer at annual meeting(s), poster presentations) in AACN? | Yes |
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| Please specify. | I was a student assistant at the 2024 conference. I recently joined the AACN student committee and will be assisting with student programing for the upcoming 2025 conference. I also serve on the student committee in Asian Neuropsychological Association.
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| Personal Statement | I’m excited to reapply for the student leader position as it continues to align with my early career goals. During my fellowship, I’ve been increasing my participation in neuropsychological organizations by serving on committees and am hoping to build on this experience by trying to secure more leadership positions. I am eager to gain experience and develop the skills needed to organize large scale professional events. I aspire to be in a leadership role and organizing similar events in the future. Finally, as a (almost) early career professional, I remain interested in networking and developing relationships with other ECP’s and neuropsychologists in the field.
As a student assistant last year, I developed a better understanding of the role student assistants and leaders play in ensuring the conference runs smoothly. I perceived one of the biggest challenges as scheduling. First, creating a schedule that accommodates all the student’s preferences, and then being able to make strategic last-minute changes when people are unable to work their shifts or experience unexpected travel delays. I view these challenges as an opportunity for growth. I have inherently enjoyed administrative and organizational responsibilities as they challenge my problem-solving skills and help me acquire experiences that I know will be beneficial in the future. I also work well in a team and am confident in my ability to work with conference leaders to brainstorm quick and effective solutions. Another challenge appeared to be customer service issues related to conference attendees (e.g., missing badges, people not signing up for the conference, failure to scan in/out of lectures). I believe a large part of the solution is the manner in which one responds during these situations. A quality that I pride myself in is my ability to be flexible and remain relatively calm when events do not go as planned or during crises. I believe I have the interpersonal skills necessary to navigate these situations with attendees, recognize when the situation might require help from conference leaders, and prepare and support student assistants when they occur. It also requires a degree of patience and frustration tolerance, for which the several years I worked in customer service will be an asset.
In graduate school, I served as chair of the membership committee of the Maryland Psychological Association of Graduate Students as well as the chair of my program’s multicultural peer consultation group. Both positions helped me develop skills related to recruitment, organization and coordination of meetings and events, and management of committee members. I’ve been serving on the ANA and AACN student committees and will be assisting the latter committee with developing student programing for the conference. On postdoc, I’ve been co-managing practicum student group supervision and didactic seminars, including creating didactics schedules, reaching out to speakers and developing workshops that are geared towards trainee professional growth. Overall, I am confident that I would be a hard-working, conscientious, and enjoyable asset to the team and could rise to most challenges that come with this role. Thank you for your consideration!
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| Curriculum Vitae | LYLA-WADIA_CV2024.pdf |
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| Application for Scholarship | Travel scholarship awardees are provided with free conference registration and reimbursement of up to $550 of travel expenses to support conference attendance, including meals, hotel stay, and airfare. |
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| Application for Conference Mentor Award | |
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| By applying to be a conference leader, you agree to the following responsibilities/commitments: | I carefully reviewed the above responsibilities/commitments and agree with all of them.
Job responsibilities:
- Attend select Conference Committee meetings. These currently occur the first Wednesday of the month at 4 PM ET.
- Help recruit student assistants via listservs and organizations (e.g., AACN, INS, etc.).
- Communicate with prospective student assistants regularly via email, text message, and/or online meetings as needed.
- Organize pertinent information (e.g., contact info, tentative availability during the conference).
- Schedule 1-2 training sessions with student assistants (using videoconferencing). Review job duties and answer questions with support from the Technology Manager and Conference Co-Chair(s).
- Keep up with changes that are made throughout the recruitment phase to assure all students assistants are updated.
- Create a schedule for student assistants based on availability and conference needs.
- Communicate job duties with student assistants.
- Problem solve changes to the schedule.
- Cover shifts at the Help Desk.
- Support student assistants and keep things organized.
- Maintain regular communication with your co-coordinator to problem solving if any issues that arise.
- Communicate with the Technology Manager, Conference Co-Chair(s), local event planners, Education Chair, and President as needed. Relay solutions to student assistants.
Time commitment:
- 1-2 hours per month for attending meetings.
- Spring time leading up to the conference: Up to 15 hours per week creating and editing the schedule as well as communicating with your co-coordinator, committee, and student assistants.
- Arrive at conference Tuesday evening or Wednesday (6/11/24 or 6/12/24) before registration opens on Wednesday early afternoon and remain available through late afternoon Saturday (6/14/23) when the conference ends.
- Cover the Help Desk approximately three 4-hour shifts (12 hours total).
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| In 500 words or fewer, please describe (1) your prior mentorship experience and what you feel you can offer mentees from historically underrepresented backgrounds at the AACN annual meeting, and (2) how this mentorship experience will contribute to your professional goals. You also may describe the ways in which attending the AACN Annual Meeting would represent a financial hardship for you without this award. | Mentorship has played a meaningful role in my career having been a mentee myself and as well as mentor. During my training, I’ve tried to serve as both a formal and informal mentor to students. In graduate school, I served as a student mentor for trainees in psychology through the Maryland Psychological Association of Graduate Students and Loyola University. This involved providing support to students applying to graduate school as well graduate students who were beginning their training. On internship and postdoc, I’ve served as a mentor in a more informal manner. I’ve helped trainees at my programs with feedback on application materials for practicum/internship, practiced interviewing skills, and offered emotional support.
I believe that the group that I could best serve is international students. As one myself, I have experienced the unique challenges we face in training (e.g., lack of visa support for 2-year post-doc) and would love the opportunity to provide the support that I lacked. Over the years I’ve been able to connect with and offer some advice to international students in psychology programs, however, I think there is immense benefit in providing mentorship prior to graduate school as choosing a school/geographical etc. area can make a huge impact. I believe I could offer all mentees a space to talk through and identify potentials interests within neuropsychology, insights into choosing programs, and emotional support for the challenges with applying to graduate school. Additionally, I believe that I can offer mentees from historically underrepresented backgrounds thoughtful and honest advice about some of the challenges that they might face in graduate school/training and ways to best approach them and succeed. I would hope to serve as a mentor not only for the duration of the conference, but for as long as the mentees wish or needed.
I have always been very passionate about supervision and training and therefore, one of my primary early career goals is to become more involved in training graduate students and increasing my participation in student/training focused committees within neuropsychological organizations. For me, training and mentorship go hand in hand such that in order to be a successful supervisor one must also be a successful mentor. I think that the most valuable supervision extends beyond teaching a trainee how to administer tests and write reports but instead provides experiences, support and skills that lasts long after. In the long term, I hope to secure leadership positions in training, particularly, to help with the recruitment and retention of students from underrepresented backgrounds. While I am aware of some of the hardships that international students face, I also want to increase my understanding of the struggles that other underrepresented students face as well as what helps them succeed. I think that mentorship opportunities such as this one are a meaningful and symbiotic way of achieving these goals. Finally, if not selected for this specific opportunity, I’m still happy to have my contact information provided incase students want additional support or would like to connect in the future.
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| Tiebreaker | 1 |
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