51�Թ�

Serving in the military is a lifestyle. It is a passion. It is a higher calling to serve to defend the freedoms that the United States hold so dear.

But the armed forces are also a place where people find themselves and discover their higher purpose and calling. Such was the case for Aryka Lor MA ’24, PsyD ’27.

When she joined the Hawaiʻi Air National Guard out of high school, Lor served as a medical technician, a specialty involving work in emergency rooms and serving on a hazardous response detachment team. While she enjoyed the challenge that a medical specialty offered, Lor found herself attracted less to the treatment of physical ailments and more to a patient’s mental well-being.

“When I was a medic, I would always get comments like, ‘You released some tension for me.’ I just enjoyed being personal and friendly during those first interactions,” Lor said. “I felt like it wasn’t really medicine, and that’s when I went towards behavioral health and psychology. I feel like that’s a better fit for my personality.”

Discovering her purpose to pursue psychology led her to 51�Թ�, where she is one of several graduate psychology and optometry students enrolled through the military’s Health Professions Scholarship Program (HPSP). Offered by the , and , the competitive program provides full scholarships for graduate education in several medical fields and provides a monthly stipend for living expenses.

Upon graduation, HPSP participants commit to at least a three-year term of military service. Participants are commissioned as officers, initially as second lieutenants in the Army and Air Force or as ensigns in the Navy while in school. After graduation, participants begin service as captains in the Army and Air Force and lieutenants in the Navy.

For Lor, the program is more than a way to pay for her education. It is an opportunity to better serve servicemembers and families as they navigate their unique challenges.

“I think I’ve always wanted to support servicemembers and their families because I know the unique structures that they go through,” said Lor, whose father and husband are veterans. “Hearing my husband’s experiences really motivated me to not only work with soldiers and family members, but also with the higher-ups to show the benefits of taking care of people and their mental health.”

That spirit of service also inspires Deontae Massey-Johnson ’22, MA ’24, PsyD ’27, who is also attending Pacific through the Air Force HPSP. He believes that the better he can serve his fellow airmen’s mental health needs, the stronger the Air Force can be.

“A lot of things that military personnel are undergoing are monumental things that would make the average person shake,” Massey-Johnson said. “And that’s why I think psychology in the military is important. We want to provide a safe space for soldiers to feel comfortable about expressing things that are hard, that they don’t feel like they can express on the outside.”

Unlike Lor, Massey-Johnson did not have family influences in his decision to join the military. He considered joining the Air Force after high school but instead followed his best friend, Collin Weires ’22, to Pacific, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology.

When he interviewed for admission to Pacific’s graduate psychology program, he expressed to Associate Professor Tamara Tasker his continued desire to serve. She encouraged Massey-Johnson to apply for HPSP. Since being accepted to the program, he has been able to focus some of his work on topics that prepare him for the unique environment of the military.

“Most of the faculty that I am involved with at Pacific know that I am in HPSP and support me,” Massey-Johnson said. “I have the opportunity to do presentations and assignments on cognitive processing therapy, which is a gold standard in the Air Force around prolonged exposure.”

Jordan Cutaia ’23, OD ’26, who served six years in the Air Force before enrolling in Pacific’s optometry program, would have remained enlisted if not for the opportunity to take advantage of HPSP to pursue his goal of becoming a commissioned officer. He became familiar with Pacific after meeting students on rotations at the clinic he worked at in Florida.

“The clinic that I worked at in the Air Force was a site for fourth-year students, so I was already familiar with Pacific and I knew a bunch of students,” Cutaia said. “So having those connections and familiarity, as well as being veteran-friendly, helped make the choice.”

Cutaia finished his bachelor’s degree in visual science through his G.I. Bill benefits. He was further helped by Pacific’s participation in the , which covers tuition expenses for veterans that the G.I. Bill does not cover.

“My biggest goal was to come out of school debt-free,” Cutaia said. “I ended up using two years of my G.I. Bill to finish undergrad, but with the Yellow Ribbon Program, they match whatever the G.I. Bill doesn’t pay.”

While the military service commitment after graduation for Lor, Massey-Johnson and Cutaia is three years, all three are considering the armed services as a long-term career option.

“I’ve already served with the guard for nine years,” Lor said. “So I know it’s something that I am already familiar with. So I know it’s something that I can do long-term if it continues to fit my needs and my family’s needs.”

“After my three-year commitment, I will be halfway to retirement,” Cutaia said. “It ultimately depends on my experience, but I would like to make a career out of it if things align properly and the experiences are what I anticipate them to be.”

Whether it becomes a long-term career path or not, Massey-Johnson appreciates how HPSP makes his career pathway clear.

“HPSP added the layer of setting in stone my career when I get out of school,” he said. “But if I do my contract and I don’t want to continue, then my resume looks amazing.”