Gail's note: I met Michelle a year ago at a UC Davis Guardians Scholars program meeting and was so impressed with her grace, compassion and intellect. I have stayed in touch with her and learned that she was the commencement speaker for the UC Davis undergraduating class of 2019. Read more about Michelle and please watch her video. I am honored to stay connected with her as she heads off for her next adventure across the country to graduate school at Univ of Buffalo! And I have already connected her with CIssy White who supports that region!
Michelle Melton graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelors of Art in psychology. During her time at Davis she studied infant episodic memory development research as the Center for Mind and Brain, Parent Child Interaction Therapy at the UC Davis Pediatric Hospital C.A.A.R.E Center and Adverse Childhood Experiences through working at the Guardian Scholars Program on campus.
Michelle developed these areas of research through her own upbringing where she overcame tremendous obstacles as a former foster youth and as someone who experienced a tremendous amount of adverse childhood experiences.
Michelle was selected to be the commencement speaker for her class after auditioning alongside a group of 40 other students. Michelle is the first in her family to graduate from college and she recently moved to Buffalo, NY to pursue a fully funded MSW program with the University at Buffalo. On the day of her graduation, Michelle was surrounded by two of her cousins, her pastor and friends that she had made her chosen family while living in the Yolo County area. Michelle aspires to study traumatic experiences with children and bring further awareness of ACES research. Her dream is to continue developing resources to better help children with PTSD and provide accessible screening of ACES within public settings so that children with histories such as her own can receive early intervention.
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