By Brenda Lange

For LaToya Small, five years as a Chestnut Hill College (CHC) student just weren’t enough. After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2004 and master’s degree in counseling psychology the following year, she returned in 2012 to enter the Psy.D. program — another commitment of five years.

For Small, however, resuming her studies at CHC after seven years as a Navy hospital corpsman was more like a family reunion. Now that the end is in sight — she is completing a full-time internship at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, D.C., fulfilling the one-year requirement to receive her doctorate degree — it all just feels bittersweet.

Her 16-year CHC journey has taught Small a great deal about the world and her place in it. She’s learned a lot about faith, family, commitment, service and dedication in pursuit of making her dreams a reality. “I know I can come back to CHC and be of service to the current students,” she said. “I can come and give back to the community that has given me so much. I credit my professors and the entire staff, who all remember who you are and support you.”

Motivation, commitment, dedication, drive, integrity and focus only begin to describe Small, who believes that if something is worth having, it is worth a lot of hard work. And she proved that every day of her first year in the Psy.D. program, in part, by commuting weekly from the naval hospital in Portsmouth, Va.

“LaToya juggled multiple military, academic, personal and professional obligations during her tenure in the Psy.D. Program, and at all times she was conscientious, diligent and dedicated,” said Cheryl Rothery, Psy.D., ABPP, associate professor of psychology, chair of the Department of Professional Psychology and director of clinical training. “And she did it all with grace, efficiency, humility and a wonderful sense of humor!”

After graduating from Little Flower Catholic High School for Girls in Logan, Small knew she wanted to attend CHC as soon as she visited the campus. She wanted to study psychology since she was about 15. She also knew she wanted to serve in the military from a young age, following in the footsteps of her father, grandfather and several cousins.

After receiving her dual degree, Small worked with homeless women and children through Self, Inc., a Philadelphia nonprofit, Although she liked the work, the desire to enlist returned and she joined the delayed entry program so she could get the specific job she wanted — hospital corpsman.

“I knew I wanted to help people and be of service to other sailors and Marines and their families, and I did for more than seven years,” she said. “Then I got the itch to do more, and I felt I could be of greater service by getting my doctorate.” She chose to return to CHC and the Psy.D. program. “I was ecstatic to come back to where it all started.”

CHC’s Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology program (Psy.D.) began in 1997 and was recently reaccredited by the American Psychological Association. The program is considered a practitioner-scholar model for training students over a five-to-six year span.

Because Small already had earned her master’s degree in clinical psychology, she was eligible to enter Year II of the five-year Psy.D. program. Still on active duty in the Navy, though, Small applied for a leave of absence. It had not yet been granted when she was to begin classes.

“So I made arrangements to work 10 hours a day, four days a week,” she explains. “I took the bus to Philadelphia on Monday nights, went to school all day Tuesday and Wednesday and went back on the bus, going straight to work on Thursday.”

Small attributes her ability to maintain that grueling schedule for a full year to “the grace of God.” And to her families — her biological family, her friends and her military and CHC families. “I am inspired by her ability to reframe obstacles as challenges,” said former faculty member, Susan McGroarty, Ph.D., ABPP, who taught Small toward the end of her first five years as a CHC student.

In addition to classwork, Small helped her mother care for her ailing grandmother.  And she missed only one class that year — so she could take an advancement exam to move up in rank and pay grade. During her last month of classes — in April, 2016 — Small lost her beloved grandmother and also was notified that she was going to be commissioned as an officer. After attending Officer Development School over the summer, Lt. LaToya Small reported to Walter Reed, where she is now working as a clinical doctoral student.

The prestigious Walter Reed internship is highly competitive — only 12 students were selected nationwide ��� and LaToya believes her prior military experience and the story of how she commuted that first year helped impress those making the choice. After her internship ends in October, 2017, she will have met a very large goal.

“LaToya is exceptional and is very conscientious in class, taking her clinical responsibilities seriously,” said Scott Browning, Ph.D., ABPP, professor of psychology and Small’s dissertation chair. “She is very aware of the effect of the military on family functioning and has created a dissertation that furthers the field on this issue.”

“I want people to know about the obstacles I faced on my journey and to know they can overcome theirs,” Small said. “You can do anything if you stay grounded and humble. Everything we experience helps shape your character and keeps you on course.”

Reprinted, with permission, from the Chestnut Hill College Alumni Magazine. Lt. Small can be reached at www.facebook.com/latoya.small