Since 2018, SG Psych Stuff has been conducting annual mentor program runs for psychology undergraduates. Students selected to be mentees are paired with professionals who have been in the field for at least two years and come from various sub-disciplines in psychology. Mentees are able to learn about the diverse psychology scene in Singapore by interacting with psychology professionals and access exclusive workshops and talks. The upcoming 2023 run will include counseling and social work students with professionals from these scenes as well.

With the mentee recruitment for 2023 beginning this month, we seek to gain more insight on the mentors who had generously taken their time to participate in this program in the previous cycles.

Today, we are interviewing Eulisia Er. Eulisia is an Educational Psychologist with extensive experience in child and educational psychology. She is involved in multiple organizations that aid people in various ages, levels, and disability groups.

 

#1: Tell me more about yourself, and how you came to be in the sub-discipline of psychology that you are in currently.

Hi Everyone! I’m Eulisia and I’m an Educational Psychologist.

When I was 10 years old, my interest in the field of psychology was incepted even though I was then unaware of the existence of the discipline. In Primary 4, my teacher tasked me with the responsibility of helping a ‘weak’ student as I was doing reasonably well in class. Looking back, she was not only academically weak. Instead, she was different. She had extremely peculiar habits: obsessed with lining up her pencils neatly, frequently flicking her arms and often staring into space. Despite my efforts to try and teach her, she did not seem to understand. Being only 10 years old, I did not know how else to help her. She failed her PSLE and her ‘N’ Level examinations.

As she still lives near me, I will sometimes see her on the bus and talk to her.  She mentioned that she has been unable to find employment since completing her formal education 8 years ago. My friendship and interactions with her started me thinking about what else could have been done to help her and other children in a similar situation. As such, it was only natural I chose to pursue a degree in psychology and subsequently started out on a job dealing with children having intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.

I believe that early intervention is the key to helping individuals with special needs develop and adapt to society as best as they can. It gives me great satisfaction to know that I played a role in helping children progress in their lives. Thus, it is only fitting for me to choose the role of Educational Psychologist as my lifelong career.

 

#2: What are your thoughts on the ability for undergraduates to be able to be mentored by a professional such as yourself?

I chanced upon SG Psych Stuff’s call for mentors and decided to sign up. When I was an undergraduate, there were no available mentoring programmes. Hence to be able to be mentored by professionals, with decades of work experience, is a great opportunity for undergraduates as they get to understand more about various job roles and responsibilities.

 

#3: What is one word you would use to describe your experience in the programme as a mentor, and why?

Meaningful. I believe that imparting our knowledge to aspiring mentees plays a major role in shaping the psychological fraternity.

 

#4: What’s one advice you can give for Psychology undergraduates for them to plan a career in Psychology?

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. Be proactive and take realistic steps towards your chosen field of psychology.

Also remember that psychology undergraduates have been gainfully employed in other sectors (e.g., teaching, technology, corporate) so not being a psychologist isn’t the end of the world! :)

 

Connect with Ms Eulisia Er on her LinkedIn here.

 

By: Sarah bt. Johari

Sarah is a third-year undergraduate in Nanyang Technological University, reading Materials Engineering with a minor in Psychology. She enjoys organizing her items in labelled boxes, her clothes by type, and her thoughts with lists.