McNair Scholar: Tandy Das Focused on Helping Others

McNair Scholar Tandy Das was ready to enter the pre-nursing program at San Joaquin Delta College when she realized she didn't want to be a nurse.

"I always enjoyed helping people," said Das, who transferred to Stanislaus State in fall 2023. "I thought that was the typical job to get into. I was born in the Philippines and there's that stereotype - most Filipinos are nurses. I don't know where that derived from. My mom is about to graduate from Delta as a nurse."

But this country showed there are other means of lending support, and Das found hers when she took an introductory psychology course.

"I was always curious about people," Das said. "I wanted to know why people acted the way they did. I always analyzed people. I didn't know about the major until I took a class and thought it was super interesting. It clicked that I could switch my major."

Not to say psychology is easy, but for Das, what she's learning comes easily.

"It feels natural to me," Das said. "What I'm learning makes sense. I like the topics and mental health in general. I feel mental health is important, especially growing up in the Philippines, where there's no conversation about that. I wanted to change that, especially in my family and make people aware of certain things."

Das, who graduated from Stockton's Lincoln High School, moved to California when she was 10. Her dream was to become a professional basketball player, a 5-foot-1 guard with her goal set on the WNBA. Now, Das is focused on new dreams of helping people, especially the loved ones she left behind in the Philippines when her mom remarried and moved her and her younger sister to Stockton.

Missing her extended family was the biggest challenge of settling in the United States, but Das also has found opportunities.

She found the McNair Scholars Program by chance.

"I was walking around the Innovative Center and saw the sign for McNair. I saw what the requirements were to join, what it meant and what the program was about. That's when I found out you need research.

"What I'm learning makes sense. I feel mental health is important, especially growing up in the Philippines, where there's no conversation about that. I wanted to change that, especially in my family, to make people aware of certain things."

Tandy Das, Psychology major

"When I went to Delta, I never knew you needed to conduct research. I thought you just went to college and did your classes. It said on the poster they're going to help you with a master's, and especially if you're going for a Ph.D., so I signed up."

The postgraduate options were a revelation to Das. She was familiar with some of the certificate and licensing programs, but it introduced her to a doctoral degree. Her focus was on a Doctor of Psychology, which prepares licensed psychologists.

There are also master's programs and license options, although Das is more focused on psychology than social work.

"I want to learn more about psychology, especially personality and disorders," Das said. "That's interesting to me. I like sociology, too."

As she works toward her bachelor's degree, Das is gaining some practical experience by working at Stockton's Women's Center and Family Services, now called PREVAIL, as a member of the shelter staff. She recently shifted from supporting women to working with youth in transitional housing, which serves young adults ages 18-25 and adolescents ages 12-17.

"I'm there if they need help with cooking, basic life skills, job applications or someone to talk to," Das said. "I know most of the youth there. I can tell if someone is not themselves. Yesterday, one of my clients who is usually bubbly wasn't herself, so I was able to talk to her."

Ultimately, she hopes to complete an internship or even shadow the counselors who work at the agency to get a feel for their work.

"I hope what I'm doing now can get me where I want to go and what I want to be," Das said. "I have to keep doing it. That's why I love this job. I feel I have that support from my program manager. She said, 'You just keep doing the stuff you feel you need to do to get to where you want to go."

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