Emily Serrano is a first-year, first-generation college student and a Pre-Psychology major at California State University, Long Beach. In Fall of 2024, she joined Dr. Kimberly Kelly’s Child Language, Interactions, and Memory (CLIaM) lab as a research assistant. Emily found Dr. Kelly’s lab through the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP). She joined lab to enrich her research interest in psychology and discover how children learn in informal science learning environments. She hopes to earn a doctorate degree in child psychology, focusing on children’s behavior, cognition, and development. She has worked with children in her past, both inside and outside of the classroom. Emily made lesson plans involving social-emotional, gross motor, and cognitive skills. Along with this, she earned a certificate for completing the Educators of Tomorrow (EOT) program with her school district, LAUSD, after two years of dedicated participation. She also passed both the District Proficiency Test and the Instructional Assistance Test. In pursuit of this goal, Emily plans to use her degree to become a play therapist or open a private practice. She will present at the UROP 2025 Symposium summarizing the valuable efforts she and her peers have made in CLIaM lab. In her free time, Emily enjoys watching movies, spending time with loved ones, and traveling to new places.