Hannah Lucas
Hannah was born on Hope St. in South Pasadena, CA in the early 1980鈥檚. Little did
she know that holding on to hope would be crucial in the years to come. Hannah鈥檚 childhood
was full of laughter and creativity, as she grew up alongside her older brother Conan
with their loving parents. The household was filled with music and love from the moment
they were both born. She just assumed that all families burst into song throughout
the day. Her earliest years were filled with writing stories, poetry, songs, making
and playing original board games, and learning the second-hand instruments her dad
would bring home from the thrift store. Hannah moved to Azusa, CA just before middle
school, and in high school, Hannah was a happy nerd and theater kid. By the end of
high school, she was accepted to UCLA鈥檚 musical theater program, and she was excited
to pursue a musical career.
As high school ended, Hannah became a mom for the first time to her amazing daughter
Ahlitney. Parenthood put college on hold, and she decided to get a job to support
her family instead. Ahlitney鈥檚 sweet little sister Kaleila came along a couple of
years later, and soon enough, they were singing in three-part harmony! The dream.
In the the early 2000鈥檚, Hannah鈥檚 optimistic life began to challenge her in ways she
couldn鈥檛 have imagined. Tragically, her beloved brother Conan died suddenly in 2005,
leaving an empty space that could never be filled. Shortly after that, she lost her
job during the recession, got a divorce, and she and her daughters found themselves
unhoused. After looking for a stable job for two years with no luck, Hannah decided
to go to college, and increase her odds of providing stability for her children. Upon
walking onto the campus at Citrus College, she accidentally found herself in the EOP&S/CARE/CalWORKS
department. There she found the support and community that would prop her up and launch
her towards success. She was finally even offered a job at EOP&S as a peer advisor.
With the guidance of her EOP&S counselor, and many caring faculty, Hannah earned two
associates degrees in under two years, and transferred to Cal Poly Pomona, where she
majored in Psychology. She hit the ground running, volunteering to work in several
faculty research labs and groups and participating in student clubs, all while raising
her two amazing kiddos and working at various student positions for the university.
She became a McNair Scholar and President鈥檚 Council Scholar while at Cal Poly Pomona,
and was admitted directly to a doctoral program after she earned her Bachelor鈥檚 degree.
Sadly, her dad passed away from brain cancer before he could watch her cross the stage,
but she featured her brother and dad on her graduation cap, and carried them across
with her.
Hannah spent her next chapter working on her masters and doctoral degrees at Claremont
Graduate University with one of the founders of Positive Psychology (Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi)
and Dr. Jeanne Nakamura as her faculty advisors. It was there that she fell in love
with the concept of flow: The sweet spot where challenge and skill meet to bring us
to our optimal performance and experience. Yet Hannah was most interested in how we
experience flow in the presence of others, drawing on her experiences of social flow
throughout her childhood and life. She focused her research on this concept for years.
She has published her scholarly work on social flow, love, and lifespan developmental
psychology (her area of concentration) in both academic journals and books. She has
also presented her work nationally and internationally at many academic conferences
over the last twelve years.
After Hannah secured her Master鈥檚 degree in Psychology, she became a part-time faculty
member at several colleges, including 性视界, Mt. San Antonio College, Cal
State Fullerton, and Moreno Valley College. Although she knew she had many options
for her future career, she had known exactly what she wanted to do since her Citrus
College days: Become a full-time psychology professor in her own community. That dream
came true when she became a full-time professor at 性视界 college in 2018. Hannah
has specialized in teaching research methods in psychology and lifespan development
to her students, and has worked hard to make these topics accessible and enjoyable
for them; both online and in-person. Learning how to do scientific research opened
many doors for Hannah on her academic journey, and she had a clear goal to bring research
opportunities to community college students before they transfer to 4-year institutions.
Alongside her colleagues Matthew Vincent and John Glass, Hannah helped to start 性视界
college鈥檚 chapter of Psi Beta, the honors society for psychology students in community
colleges. Hannah runs a research group for students to get hands on research experience
and present their work at conferences, so they too can hit the ground running and
be on par with their 4-year peers after transfer. The Psi Beta research students have
presented at local, regional, and national conferences over the last few years, won
research awards for their work, and have gone on to prestigious universities, and
programs.
Although getting a college education didn鈥檛 always seem like a guarantee in Hannah鈥檚
life, both of Hannah鈥檚 daughters have now graduated from college themselves, and have
started their own careers. And that is Hannah鈥檚 favorite part of the story.
