Alex Casillas
Principal Research Psychologist
ACT, Inc.
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
Realizing that I could get an education at a top college (even if my family did not have the financial means)
Realizing that graduate school was a path I could take that would result in a more fulfilling set of career choices as well as more financial stability
Getting exposed to an applied research organization (instead of just academic research) which turned out to be a great fit for me
Being able to pivot in my job so that I could shape it to meet both organizational needs as well as my own evolving / changing interests
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Career
Principal Research Psychologist
I do research on the behaviors that lead to success in both school and work settings.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Education
Numbers
Working with Others
Day to Day
Some combination of independent work (e.g., reading research literature, contributing to a research report) and work with project teams to address a problem (e.g., solutions for students who are at risk of dropping out of school). The day would likely include a variety of meetings and switching from one topic / project to another.
Recommended Education
My career is related to what I studied. I'd recommend the path I took:
Hurdles
The Noise I Shed
From Society in General:
"Go back to Mexico. If you are not a U.S. citizen and you don’t have lots of money, you can’t get a good education in the U.S. Why do you want to get a degree from a liberal arts institution? Why do you want to spend so many years in school?"
