Yareczi Valencia is a first-generation, first-year pre-psychology student at California State University, Long Beach. As a UROP student in Fall 2025, she joined Dr. Kelly’s Child Language Interactions and Memory (CLIaM) Lab, a research environment that aligns with her growing interests in cognitive development, parent-child dynamics, and early learning processes. Yareczi’s motivation to join CLIaM Lab stems from her curiosity about how everyday interactions between children and caregivers influence attention, memory, and long-term learning outcomes. She is particularly interested in how factors such as communication styles, emotional climate, and parental engagement affect children’s cognitive development. Through her ongoing experience in lab, she hopes to deepen her understanding of developmental research methods while strengthening her analytical and organizational skills. Yareczi is passionate about making an impact on her community through psychological work. As someone eager to help children and families, she plans to pursue a PhD in clinical psychology, with the goal of becoming a clinical psychologist who specializes in child and adolescent mental health. She is especially interested in working with underserved or marginalized communities, where culturally responsive mental health support is needed. During her free time, Yareczi enjoys thrifting, cooking and baking, expanding her music taste, and spending quality time with her loved ones.