SJS News

Before starting her Doctor of Psychology program at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California in August, Winnie Chang ’15 took an outreach trip to Ghana with the nonprofit she helped to found, Coast 2 Coast, to provide essential social intervention for children with autism. 

Winnie earned both her BA and MA in Psychology from New York University. Winnie said she thrives in new environments and loves meeting new people and her interest in psychology grew after taking courses at NYU. She participated in multiple research projects as an undergraduate student but missed having direct interaction with people. At that point, she decided she wanted to go in a clinical direction and would need to earn her master’s degree.

“I worked at a lab where we were teaching individuals with borderline personality disorder cognitive skills like acceptance, and then taking a measure of their symptoms after,” Winnie said. “Once I dabbled with that, I thought, OK, I definitely want to be a therapist because I want to be able to teach these skills to the person and not just be in the back taking notes.”

While in her master’s program, Winnie worked as an assistant to Dr. Jen Clark, a child psychologist and development specialist. They were working with children on the spectrum and both felt like they wanted to do more to help underserved populations, particularly in other countries where services may not be offered. Winnie said they started doing research on how to create a nonprofit to get the funding they would need.

“I learned a lot about how when you're proactive, you can get anything done,” Winnie said. “From the time I started there, my boss and I were just like, ‘I think we should do it.’ So, we applied, and we got a grant and had some individual donations. We took our first trip in June, and it was really great.”

Their nonprofit organization, Coast 2 Coast, brings social intervention groups to children with autism in underserved populations globally. In June, they traveled to New Horizon Special School in Accra, Ghana. New Horizon serves children, teens, and adults with autism. They are taught skills to improve communication, socialization, life skills and cognitive skills, but the program needs support and training in order to provide effective intervention. 

“We wanted to be able to provide ABA services, which is a technique usually used for people on the spectrum socially,” Winnie said. “It's really good for language acquisition for nonverbal individuals, and that is not something that is used as commonly in countries outside of the U.S.”

They took five student volunteers on the trip who were interns at Dr. Clark’s private practice. Those students helped to teach the value of peer mentors by role modeling certain behaviors. 

“We had neurodivergent individuals there diagnosed with autism and then we had neurotypical kids of their own age modeling appropriate social behaviors for them and positive interactions,” Winnie said. “It was cool to see the kids that we brought really grow into those positions and mature.”

Winnie said the outreach trip was a very rewarding experience because they were able to see their hard work of creating the nonprofit come full circle.

“I think Saint James teaches those skills—like if you want something then make it happen,” she said. “Asking for help is also something that was really voiced at Saint James; that it's OK to ask for help and there are people that can support you. Having an advisor-advisee relationship was eye opening for me and also crucial in how I operate now. It's not about me myself figuring everything out; it's about us working together to help everyone maximize efficiency.”

Winnie has since moved across the country to Berkeley, California, and is a first-year doctoral student at The Wright Institute. The Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) program offered at The Wright Institute is more clinically based than a typical PhD program, which would be more research-based. She is excited to already be working as a clinician for the College Wellness program serving adolescents and young adults at Diablo Valley College.

“I didn't want to keep sitting in a classroom learning but not doing,” Winnie said. “I’m very action oriented, which is a big reason I picked this program.”

Winnie grew up in Taiwan, but her family moved to New York when she was five, and then she split time between the two countries. She said she wanted to return to the U.S. for high school because the Taiwanese education system is very test focused. Winnie had a distant cousin who went to Saint James briefly, so she came to tour Saint James and liked the small community. 

“I'm from a small town in Taiwan, so that felt familiar,” she said. “I liked the drama program with Mr. Collin. I also liked that we were required to do sports even though I hated it. I was not athletic growing up, but I loved soccer. I played soccer all four years. And even though I was the least athletic, somehow I still became a captain. You don't have to be the best player.”

Winnie said she still feels connected to the SJS community and the friends that she made here. She came back to visit the campus in the spring and felt welcomed again.

“The school has developed so much, but I feel like it's retained its core values,” Winnie said. “The current students were so nice and respectful, and it made me think about how I was taught in a great environment. I think a good education isn't just teaching you how to study and get good grades; it's teaching you how to be a good person and how to interact with people in this world. Saint James definitely teaches you that well.”