Children and Society alumni have gone on to work as educators, as counselors, and in non-profit organizations focusing on children. They have also enrolled in graduate school programs in Speech-Language Pathology, Communication Sciences and Disorders, and Counseling Psychology. If you are a Children and Society alum, we would love to hear what you’re doing and share your news with other alumni. Please contact us at bdp@uts.cc.utexas.edu any time!
Read on to hear about what some of our Children and Society alumni have been doing since they graduated.
Nora Odisho
Psychology, Graduated Summer 2008
Nora was a Psychology/Pre-Med major who focused on the Children and Health Strand in the Children & Society BDP. In her BDP, Nora researched with Dr. Echols on language acquisition of infants and had the opportunity to be an asthma program coordinator for the American Lung Association. After graduating, Nora took a job at Phoenix Children’s Hospital as an administrative assistant and applied to medical school.
Amir Boroujerdi
Spanish and Pre-Med, Graduated Spring 2007
Amir, a Spanish and Pre-med major, focused on the Children and Public Policy strand for his BDP. Amir is interested in children’s access to health care, particularly in Mexico and Latin America. After he graduated from UT, Amir took a position teaching high school Spanish. In the future, he hopes to start a non-profit film organization devoted to raising awareness about social justice issues.
Liz Warfield
Linguistics, Graduated Summer 2006
When she first started in the Children and Society BDP, Liz knew she was primarily interested in children, language, and education. Her two connecting experiences in bilingual child language helped further enhance and solidify those interests. The BDP enabled Liz to connect her Linguistics major with her future plans, as she began graduate school for Speech-Language Pathology here at the University of Texas in Fall 2006. Although Liz has shifted her focus to adults rather than children—she is studying aphasia, which is the loss of language ability following a stroke—her BDP work helped her to explore different aspects of her field and define her interests.
Claudia Gutiérrez
Communication Sciences and Disorders and Linguistics, Graduated Spring 2006
During her first research assistantship, Claudia was involved in an on-going research project focusing on dynamic assessment in Dr. Elizabeth Peña’s lab. This experience sparked her interest in the fair evaluation of language abilities in children from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Claudia is currently a graduate student in the MA/PhD program in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Texas at Austin.
Adam Massman
Psychology, Graduated Spring 2005
Adam connected the Children & Society BDP to his fascination with industrial psychology by working with faculty to conduct research. By studying childhood development, he also became committed to helping employees balance family and the workplace. Before starting a doctoral program in psychology at Michigan State University, Adam worked as an Assistant Store Manager at a Barnes & Nobles, where he was recognized for having his best practices and for contributing to training and development programs.
Sandra Rivera
Psychology, Graduated Spring 2005
As an undergraduate Sandra conducted research in the Children’s Research Lab with Dr. Catharine Echols and Dr. Rebecca Bigler, and she interned with the Early Childhood Intervention site. After she graduated from UT, Sandra went on to pursue a Master’s in Counseling Psychology at the University of Houston, which she completed in May 2007. Sandra is now back in Austin, working as a Program Counselor for a non-profit organization called Connections. Sandra works with at-risk youth and families, providing individual and family counseling, group counseling in the agency and in schools, parenting classes, and child abuse prevention programs.
Sabina Peerbhai
Psychology, Graduated Fall 2004
Sabina came to the BDPs with an interest in social services geared towards the children of low-income families, and she has continued to pursue this interest since she graduated. As a BDP student, Sabina researched the effectiveness of Texas Department of Health and Human Services programs for low-income families, worked with the Welfare Innovations Project, and interned with the Attorney General’s office in the Child Support Division. After she graduated from UT, Sabina spent a few months traveling before returning to UT to pursue a Master’s in Social Work, with a focus on the Community, Administrative, Leadership track and non-profit management. She completed internships at SAHELI, the Women’s Advocacy Project, and the Theatre Action Project. Sabina currently works in Lewisville, in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and uses her skills to assist CHETNA with grants, manage hotline volunteers, and lead a Girl Scout troop. Sabina says that the BDP led her to pursue her Social Work degree, and through that path, she has been able to meet passionate people who help make the world a better place.
“The BDP has been the most influential educational opportunity that I have had at The University of Texas at Austin. I plan to pursue a career in teaching and to forever remain an advocate for the rights and welfare of children because of the many important lessons I have learned through the BDP.”