Highland Springs High School senior, Daya Tucker describes 2012 as the hardest year of her life because her aunt, Beryl Ampey-Nicholas, passed away at the age of 61. Daya said that her aunt had a huge impact on her and served as one of her greatest inspirations. “She is the reason why I want to major in psychology. When she was in college, she majored in it. Her life was so inspirational,” Daya said of her late aunt. “She’s probably the reason why I am who I am and why I’m so involved in the community and in school.”
Daya is definitely involved in her community and school. She is on her school’s step team, she cheers and she’s involved in numerous clubs (such as National Honor Society). Through all of these school activities, she still finds time to give time to the community as well. Daya has worked with children with disabilities at the Greater Richmond ARC. She has also worked with the Henrico Alumnae chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. empowering female youth.
Through it all, Daya said being involved has helped feed into her passion of human developmental psychologist. “Even though my friends and other peers were in the same activities that I was, everyone’s lives were different,” she said. “But we all came together for that interest and I always wondered how people could still go through the things they go through but still have a good time.”
This fascination with people and how their minds work during and after traumatic experiences are top reasons why Daya wants to be a developmental psychologist. She said she wants to be a school psychologist for middle and high school-aged children because she can relate to them. Daya said she has always been the type of person that people come to for advice. Whether it’s family or relationship problems, Daya said she is always there for her friends because she can relate to their problems. “I like how people think. I’m a very caring person and usually have an answer to whatever their problem is because I’ve already been through it. I actually enjoy it,” she said.
As she continues to be highly involved in her school and community, Daya looks to the future on her path to being a psychologist. She has already been accepted to North Carolina A&T University and plans to go there in the fall of 2014, majoring in her passion of psychology. After her undergrad years, she also wants to get a doctorate in psychology, African American studies or sociology.
