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Olivia Tan ‘26, a native of Queens, New York, arrived at ��������Ƶ eager to major in psychology. When she took a Drugs and Behavior course with Instructor Meaghan Altman, her true passion ignited. She knew then she was destined to become an addiction psychologist.

“It's interesting how everything is interconnected with psychology,” Tan said. “A lot of behavior is obviously due to how you grow up, and the environment you're in is also very impactful in terms of which behaviors come out.”

After graduating from Binghamton's Harpur College of Arts and Sciences in May, Tan will continue her education by pursuing a master’s degree in mental health counseling and obtaining certification as a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, enabling her to provide direct clinical care for substance use disorders. Her aim is to be a licensed substance abuse counselor in the public sector or in a hospital, helping people who are struggling with substance use disorder, but also those with co-occurring disorders like schizophrenia, depression, and bipolar disorder.

In addition to her major in psychology, Tan began pursuing a minor in human rights in her junior year. Together, the two taught Tan a whole new side of addiction psychology: "It's so interconnected with the work that I'm trying to go into, because there's a large social justice aspect to addiction psychology. A lot of people resort to addiction or succumb to addiction because of the systems that we have in place.”

Tan had always been somewhat interested in this aspect of psychology, but pursuing the human rights minor helped deepen that interest. She realized that psychology and human rights could work together. Combining the major and minor gave her the opportunity to learn more about it, in a way that now shapes how she looks at things beyond psychology.

“I took prisoner rights activism and state rights with Professor [Marvin] Diaz, and that was ... a whole new world,” she said.

Outside the classroom, Tan works at the Binghamton YWCA as a resident assistant in the emergency housing program, where she assists people experiencing homelessness or substance use disorders, as well as those fleeing domestic violence. The experience gave her real-world insight into issues she had previously encountered only in textbooks and case studies. She said engaging with YWCA residents helped her develop a deeper understanding and connection beyond academics, and that topics from her human rights and psychology classes often came up in their conversations.

Another experience that shaped Tan’s time at Binghamton was her involvement in the 20:1 Interpersonal Violence Prevention Program, which she joined as an intern during her junior year. This peer education program provides students with information on topics such as sexual violence prevention, affirmative consent, victim-blaming, predatory behavior, dating violence, healthy relationships, and bystander intervention. Named to represent the approximately 20 women per hour who experience sexual violence, the program was established at Binghamton in 2004 and is a credit-bearing, yearlong internship.

"I didn't realize how many people don't actually realize the extent of sexual violence, domestic violence, and dating violence, because of their culture or their background," she said. "That really shifted my perception on what I can do as a person and the importance of different kinds of methods of intervening, or in terms of addressing societal issues.”

Binghamton not only helped Tan identify which field of psychology she wants as a career but also provided her with friendships, community, and opportunities that shaped her college experience. Tan feels that her time at Binghamton revealed the kind of person she wants to become.

“I've definitely matured a lot. If I met first-year me as a senior right now, we would be completely different,” Tan said. “And I feel like the four years that we all spend here are often downplayed, like, 'Oh, it's only been four years, not much, we don't go through a lot; we're just kind of doing schooling.’ But the friendships and the experiences you have here mold you as a person.”