Kelly Chen

• Asian
• Bilingual/multilingual
• LGBTQ+
• Individuals from a socially or economically disadvantaged backgrounds (e.g., individuals who were or are currently homeless or in the foster care system; were eligible for federal food and nutrition programs [for 2 or more years]; were eligible for Pell grants; received WIC; have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor's degree; grew up in a rural or low-income area)

• SPS Conference Mentor

Like most of the student body of AACN, my professional goals include pursuing board certification in clinical neuropsychology with eventual career placement as a scientist-practitioner in a VA or other medical setting. As someone who identifies as Asian, transgender, and queer, however, my path to achieving these goals has been far from straight and has often been an intensely alienating experience. Mentorship—both its receipt and provision—has therefore been an integral part of my personal and professional development.

In my second year, I developed and led a peer mentorship program that facilitated peer-to-peer mentorship by matching advanced graduate students with junior graduate students across all areas of study in the psychology department at the University of Arizona according to ranked preferences of career goals, minority identity, and other demographic factors. While initially piloted as an informal means of facilitating individual social networking during the height of the pandemic, this program has expanded in the years since to become a living repository of institutional knowledge with multiple tiers of mentorship across career stages that receives department funding but remains entirely student-run and facilitated. As part of this program, I have mentored many junior graduate student colleagues from a variety of underrepresented backgrounds including first-generation college graduates, those identifying across the gender and sexual spectrum, and those identifying as racial and ethnic minorities. Beyond my current graduate program, I have also mentored pre-graduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds through Project SHORT, which provides pro bono mentoring for both professional health and graduate school admissions to undergraduate students in STEM.

I also have a significant amount of formal clinical supervisory experience, having led instruction of our first-year graduate assessment practicum through didactics on common neuropsychological assessments (e.g., WAIS, WMS) and the provision of live supervision. While more formal in nature than a relationship developed purely for mentorship purposes, I’ve found these supervisory relationships to be uniquely rewarding reciprocal learning experiences.

As a fully self-supported graduate student, traveling to Chicago for AACN would pose a significant financial burden. My monthly rent is more than 40% of my monthly stipend as a dual-appointed research and teaching assistant, which meets the federal definition of being rent-burdened. I also regularly visit local food pantries to make ends meet; it is only the extra teaching and grading opportunities I independently seek that place me narrowly out of eligibility for SNAP (food stamps) in Arizona.

Although I began my time in graduate school struggling to keep up with my peers, I am now a senior graduate student with a wealth of lived and academic experience to offer other student colleagues passionate about navigating the academic and clinical worlds. Given the direction the political climate in this country is trending, I believe it is even more imperative now that we take action to help our historically underrepresented current and future colleagues overcome existing systemic barriers—and prepare for those that are sure to arise.