Student & Alumni Stories

Haleigh Bassett ‘19
Turners Falls, Massachusetts

Haleigh enjoyed her Bay Path Commencement ceremony with the peace of mind of a full-time job in hand, a job she started well before her May graduation date. The position of Counselor/Case Manager at Behavioral Health Network’s Franklin Recovery Center in Greenfield, Massachusetts, is directly related both to Haleigh’s General Psychology coursework and to her summer internship at the Substance Abuse Unit of the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department. “It was the internship that led me to apply for the job,” says Haleigh. “I followed counselors in the jail setting doing exactly what I am doing now: facilitating support and education for adults detoxing and stabilizing from drug or alcohol addiction.” Haleigh teaches goal setting, personal health, the family impact of addiction, relapse prevention, and more. She loves the work, as she has loved everything about her field since her very first psychology class in high school. “I am interested in a lot of things,” says Haleigh. “Psychology is so broad that it lets you dip into a lot of topics and apply it to a lot of other subjects, and of course it’s so applicable for life. I took as many courses as I could, more than I needed for my major, and I wish I could have taken them all!” As an Honors program student, Haleigh worked closely with Psychology Department Chair Dr. Wiezbicki-Stevens on an honors thesis involving whether and how nutrition affects cognitive functioning, a year-long experimental study that Haleigh calls “super rewarding.” She looks forward to some day doing more research as a doctoral student and eventually becoming a college professor. To those just starting the undergraduate journey she has completed, Haleigh says, "Bay Path is a really comfortable place to be because the staff is so caring. There will be at least one person who will connect with you and work with you all four years. I really felt like I couldn’t fail.”