Joanna Yau

Class of 2012, B.A. in Psychology

Where have you worked and/or studied since you graduated from USC?

I am a first year Ph.D. student at UC Irvine’s School of Education, specializing in Language, Literacy, and Technology. My research interests include academic vocabulary development, second language acquisition, and technology use in the classroom.

What was the most beneficial thing you did as a student at USC to prepare you for post-graduation?

The honors program! The experiences I gained from writing a literature review, all the way to presenting my findings at a conference, gave me a leg up in the current classes and projects I am working on. Also, my research experiences prior to the honors program were primarily data entry work, so it was exciting to be able to formulate my own research questions and to conduct my own analyses.

What course did you enjoy the most?

Introduction to Forensic Psychology

If you were an undergraduate again, is there anything that you would do differently?

I would’ve taken the opportunity to meet more professors and to learn about their work. Even if you find out that their work isn’t something you’re interested in, they can point you to others whose interests are better aligned with yours.