Student Ambassador: Emaline Surgenor

Hi Prospective Students!

My name is Emaline Surgenor and I am currently a third year student in the Clinical Psychology program. I am also enrolled in the Children and Family of Adversity and Resilience concentration.

I attended a continuing education program at William James with a friend when I began work in this field. I later got to know William James students well because there were several students placed at the therapeutic day and residential program I worked at for four years before starting at William James. I knew that I wanted to go to graduate school, and hearing the experiences of the practicum students was helpful for me to understand more about the types of degrees and what types of jobs are related to each degree.

I ultimately decided that a PsyD was the degree that would afford me the opportunities I was interested in. After speaking with several William James alumni, I decided that William James was the best fit for me!

For this semester, I am serving as a teaching assistant for a third year course. My professional interests include working with children and their families. I would like to work as part of an agency, doing both assessment and therapy. I have a particular interest in working with individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

My advice to new students would be to focus on balance and time management! It can be difficult to switch between student and trainee in class and field placement, but it’s fun to have different roles! Invest in a good planner!