Lizbeth Vega Lopez

Lizbeth Vega Lopez, the winner of the 2021 Albee Aryel Fellowship Award, graduated from the University of Nevada-Reno with a Master’s Degree in Psychology with a concentration in Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA).  ABA is of proven benefit to improving the function and social skills of patients with autism and other disabilities, and our community suffers from a shortage of trained therapists.

Lizbeth earned a B.A. in June 2022 from UNR, earning a 4.0 GPA within her Psychology major and a 3.5 overall. Lizbeth was placed on the Dean’s List her last four semesters. Lizbeth is a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT).

In addition to earning top grades in the Master’s program, Lizbeth served with distinction as a behavior technician and student therapist at Marvin Picollo School, a school in the Washoe County School District that educates students with special needs, including those with autism and intellectual and physical disabilities. In April 2022, two researchers within the University’s Department of Psychology requested her services within their laboratories, and the University will pay Lizbeth a stipend to split her time between both. An upcoming issue of the peer-reviewed journal BEHAVIOR AND SOCIAL ISSUES (published by Springer) will include a research article Lizbeth wrote.

Lizbeth was an outstanding student, displaying mature judgment, an impressive work ethic, a desire to learn her chosen field and contribute toward improving it. She demonstrates dedication and compassion for her patients.

When she began her studies at UNR, she faced serious financial, logistical, and other obstacles, mostly out of her control. We told her that, as a Fellow, her job was to complete a university education and master her chosen profession. The foundation’s job was to clear the obstacles from her path, including assistance with tuition, books, rent, groceries, and other bills. The fellowship has also provided career guidance and mentoring.

Lizbeth is the first in her family to attend college, which itself created a challenge. “Minorities are underrepresented at the University. In class, I was surrounded by many white, affluent students who were better prepared than I was. Their families had sent many generations to college. This awareness contributed to my lack of confidence in my ability to successfully maneuver through my undergrad education. That affected my self-esteem and led me to question whether I actually belonged there."

“However, over time and with the support of my family and Dr. Aryel, I decided to shift my perspective. While I once viewed my circumstances as a disadvantage, I began to see them as an opportunity because I have since made it my life purpose to end the cycle of poverty and lack of education with me. While this put immense pressure on me to succeed, my newfound determination to break generational chains within my family, fueled me with the drive I needed to continue striving forward, despite any challenges.”

“Lizbeth is a very talented, hardworking, young woman.

I found her to be of very high academic potential, even if she wasn’t sure of it at the beginning. She showed me mature judgment and, with time, a very clear career goal: to become a clinical psychologist. But she had a number of obstacles in the way of a career, over which she had no control,” explained Ron Aryel, M.D., M.B.A., the founder of the program named after his late mother. “Our job was to remove those obstacles, so Lizbeth could focus on her classes and other University activities.

I also did not want Lizbeth to be burdened by a heavy student debt after graduation.” Lizbeth’s award included over $16,000 of direct support over five years.

Lizbeth explains: “While my parents always encouraged me to pursue higher education, being the daughter of lower-middle-class Hispanic immigrants came with a multitude of challenges and made even the simplest tasks of navigating through high school difficult. As a result, the idea of college scarcely crossed my mind, as I lacked confidence in my own ability to be academically successful as well as the financial means to attend college.

This was my reality until I became a new patient at the Reno Center for Child and Adolescent Health. There, I met Dr. Aryel, who was immediately very keen on pushing me towards academic success.”

Lizbeth is now eligible for licensure as a psychologist and plans to pursue a doctorate.