Psychology undergraduate student Wren Nguyen prioritizes clinical psychology for marginalized identities in studies
Wren Nguyen
By Katie Livermore, CLA Student Writer - March 12, 2025
Wren Nguyen already envisioned their career as a clinical psychologist for queer, BIPOC youth in middle school. Now, they are almost to the finish line in their psychology studies, broadening their focus to more than just therapy: they also have a strong desire to give back.
Nguyen’s parents immigrated near the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, where Nguyen was also born and raised. The grammar school they attended was mainly comprised of students from a lower to middle class community, but it wasn’t until Nguyen attended an all-girl’s Catholic high school when they began to notice things change.
“I mean, in middle school, I for sure started feeling like, ‘oh, I'm like, one of three Asian people here, and one is my cousin,” Nguyen said. “My high school's dynamics were really very interesting. All of the affinity groups really had to fight to get their things up and running.”
Affinity groups including the Asian Pacific Islander Club–of which Nguyen was co-lead and outreach coordinator–at their high school pressured the school to do more to support them. The groups began what the school now calls “UNITE Day” to bring attention to modern-day issues facing minority students.
During Nguyen’s senior year, COVID-19 swept the nation and so did the movement #StopAsianHate. Nguyen and the rest of API Club met via Zoom, creating a space for serious conversations and a positive escape from the wary world outside.
Upon graduation, Nguyen moved to Corvallis to attend Oregon State University as a psychology major. Now a fourth-year student, Nguyen has stuck by their studies.
“I was always really interested in learning about the way people would interact with the world and with each other, why people think the way that they do,” Nguyen said. “Psychology in general felt really good for that.”
Nguyen recognized through their studies that therapy for youth was inaccessible, filled with obstacles at every corner–especially when it came to personal identity. As a queer, BIPOC individual, Nguyen found the difficulties even greater. Even more so, attending a private Catholic high school growing up, Nguyen saw the need for therapy starting at a young age.
“I've had the privilege to be able to go to therapy early on,” Nguyen said. “My entire friend group eventually came out, but there was only one of us who was out while in middle school, and that experience was not great for them. This is a population that I feel like really needs some extra love. I have a really strong feeling of obligation to give back.”
Throughout their three years at the School of Psychological Science, a few of Nguyen’s favorite classes have been Social Psychology (PSY 360) and Language Acquisition (PSY 458).
They particularly appreciate teachings from Patricia Sakurai, associate professor in the School of Language, Culture, and Society's ethnic studies department, Jacqueline Goldman, Juan Hu, and Steven Sanders, professors in the School of Psychological Science.
Outside of class, Nguyen would visit Dr. Goldman’s office hours. A few conversations led to Nguyen joining the Motivation and Engagement for Student Success Lab (M.E.S.S.) for the past year.
“We were working on a project that had started and all the data had already been collected,” Nguyen said. “Rather than making a student care about a subject, we're asking whether participating in this intervention (that encourages students to make connections in their lives and hopefully care more about the subject) actually improves their performance in these classes.”
The M.E.S.S. Lab focused on two groups of students, both who watched the same educational video. One group was required to write one thing they found interesting about the video; the other group was told to write how the video connected to their lives.
“(The lab) was supposed to inspire people to make connections to a subject and encourage more critical thinking about how statistics or research methods apply to their life, which theoretically would make them perform better.”
Though the lab is no longer running, Nguyen was invited to present research at the Western Psychological Association Conference in San Francisco last spring term. It was Nguyen’s first conference and they were nervous and excited all at once.
“It was such an incredible experience,” Nguyen said. “I’m really glad I got to go.”
Another life-changing experience for Nguyen has been working at the Academic Success Center at OSU. So far, Nguyen has worked for two years as a coach and is heading into their fourth term as a strategist.
“Interacting with students, being able to build those really deep interpersonal connections with them, I feel like that is the stuff that excites me the most about doing therapy and clinical practice and being one-on-one with people,” Nguyen said. “But I've also learned that it's so incredibly draining, so exhausting. So there's been lots of learning that has been happening.”
However draining the work can be, Nguyen looks toward the bright side; their favorite part is seeing how students grow and succeed in school. These interactions fill Nguyen back up and remind them why they’re there in the first place.
Last year, the Academic Success Center organized the very first Peer Educator Conference, which brings university-wide peer educators together in one place.
“We were noticing that there are so many peer educator groups across campus and we're all so disconnected,” Nguyen said. “There are so many skills that we can learn from each other and connect with and also just bask in the fact that we're student employees.”
Looking ahead at the future, Nguyen is setting their sights on graduate school.
“If I still wanted to go along with the clinical route, there's a graduate program at Portland State University for Master of Social Work so that I could become a licensed clinical social worker,” Nguyen said.
Nguyen is now considering applying to the Master of Counseling programs at OSU (Cascades and hybrid with Ecampus & Corvallis) for the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program or School Counseling Program.
The power–and excitement–of psychology still intrigues Nguyen. In the end, they just want to help make a positive difference in the lives of others.
“If I can help other people do what they love and be better individuals, what more can you ask for, really?”