Alumni Profile: Alexander Latham ’20
Degree(s): BA Psychology with Comprehensive Honors, UW–Madison
Current Occupation: School Psychology Doctoral Student
What are some of the benefits of your psychology degree?
My psych degree, more than anything, helped me ‘learn how to learn’. I can critically evaluate research and news and information from any branch of psychology and even fields outside of psychology. This has been enormously helpful in graduate school, but also in my daily life; it’s easy for me to verify claims I see online or learn more about how to best improve my running, or be safe in the pandemic.
How did you find your way to your current profession?
Through the Psychology Alumni Networking Dinner! I had a lot of interests for the type of work I wanted to do, and ended up finding School Psychology by meeting with a School Psychology graduate student at the Alumni Networking Dinner. I had never heard of School Psych before but discovered I could research all of my interests, practice in a number of settings, and work with a wide range of people in School Psychology.
What advice would you give to students graduating with a psychology degree?
Don’t pigeonhole yourself. Psychology is applicable EVERYWHERE, not just within the social sciences. You have an important skillset that’d make you a super valuable member of a medical team, a sports team, a large tech company, anywhere! Emphasize your strengths and the breadth of your experience.