Joy Johane
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (2025)
Joy earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in 2025. As a recent graduate, she is currently exploring her next steps and looks forward to pursuing further studies and opportunities in the near future to continue developing her skills in the field of psychology.
“I would encourage students to be graceful and patient with themselves and to know that uncertainty is not always a bad thing. Allow yourself to explore that uncertainty through networking. This allows you to meet people who may be on career paths that interest you and it may inspire paths you never considered at all. Most importantly, don’t be so hard on yourself. Sometimes that time and space of simply not knowing allows you to reflect and discover insight into yourself, so embrace it.“
Brief description of what I do!
I am currently exploring opportunities in healthcare and mental health-related fields while preparing to pursue graduate studies and additional interdisciplinary training in healthcare.
What inspired your career path after graduation?
I am still in the early stages of developing my career. I am not where I want to be at this current point in time, but I am very much interested in finding opportunities within healthcare that can allow me to set the foundation for the career path that I would like to fulfil for myself in clinical psychology.
How did your experience in the psychology program shape your journey?
The psychology program is very vast and diverse in the sense that it can be applied to many different areas. My interest prior to getting into the program has always been related to health, particularly mental health. Throughout the program, that interest deepened and I found myself having answers to things I have always been curious about, as well as having even more questions that have now led me to want to further my education, still within psychology.
What skills or experiences were most valuable after graduation?
One of the most valuable things I gained was confidence in my own abilities. It’s through the challenges that came throughout my degree that helped strengthen my professionalism and resilience.
Do you have a favourite memory from your program at Carleton?
Statistics in Psychology stands out to me because it was one of the most difficult and overwhelming courses that I took throughout my degree. Taking it during the compressed summer classes made it even more challenging, and there were moments where I genuinely doubted whether I could succeed. Despite that, I pushed myself to keep going, and doing well in parts of the course ended up boosting my confidence far more than I expected. It showed me that I was capable of more than I thought. What surprised me most was how much I ended up appreciating the course itself. It helped me understand that statistics and research are really the foundation of psychology and so much of what we know within the field comes from research and data. That experience genuinely sparked my interest in research and made me want to explore it further.
It would also be unfair of me not to mention the Paul Menton Centre. Their support and accommodations were incredibly valuable to me throughout the final stretch of my degree. They made my university experience much more positive, and I truly credit a lot of my success to their support and services.
What has been a highlight or proud moment in your career so far?
Completing my degree remains the proudest moment so far. For the first time, I was able to recognize my own capabilities and triumphs which has lead to new inspirations since.