Juliana Alicia Lara

  • Senior, Psychology major with a Pre-Physician Assistant track

My time at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee has been full of opportunity and personal growth. As a psychology major with a pre-physician assistant track, I am grateful to have had a variety of science courses in my undergraduate career. These will prove to be valuable as I progress into graduate school with the goal of specializing in psychiatry.

Outside of academics, I had the privilege of working in Dr. Christine Larson’s Affective Neuroscience laboratory in my first year, participating in groundbreaking research. I have also had the honor of working with first-year students as a peer mentor and was promoted to a coaching position in the program. I am grateful to all the staff I’ve worked with in the Student Success Center who have helped me grow professionally, particularly Becky Behnke. I also work in an inpatient psychiatric facility, gaining valuable knowledge and experience in mental health. Managing two part-time jobs while going to school full-time has taught me discipline and perseverance.

I am proud to be second-generation Mexican American woman graduating with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and have an honors distinction for graduation. I feel immensely honored to become a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

UWM Land Acknowledgement: We acknowledge in Milwaukee that we are on traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homeland along the southwest shores of Michigami, North America’s largest system of freshwater lakes, where the Milwaukee, Menominee and Kinnickinnic rivers meet and the people of Wisconsin’s sovereign Anishinaabe, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Oneida and Mohican nations remain present.   |   To learn more, visit the Electa Quinney Institute website.