Philippa Chin Receives Margaret, the Lady Thatcher, Award
Philippa Chin M.Ed. ’19, Ph.D. ’23, recipient of this year’s Margaret, The Lady Thatcher, Award for Scholarship, Character and Service, does not see obstacles. She sees opportunities. When life circumstances have limited her choices, she has simply changed course. She knew she wanted to study psychology from a young age, for example, but in her home country of Jamaica, this degree was not an option at the time. Therefore, after earning a B.A. in History from the University of the West Indies in 1996, she waited for the right time to move to the United States to explore different options.
By 2017, having moved to the United States, worked in the financial and cosmetology industries, married and started a family, she had reached a point where she asked herself ‘Who am I and what do I want to do?’ Remembering her early desire to study psychology and knowing she wanted to help people, she applied to the School of Education’s counseling program. When the path opened for her to pursue a career in counseling at William & Mary, she followed it full force.
Before completing her doctorate this year in Counselor Education, Chin earned an M.Ed. in Marriage, Couples, and Family Counseling from William & Mary in 2019. She spent the next two years as a Resident in Counseling, completing the required supervision hours to attain licensure, years which overlapped with the beginning of her doctoral studies. She became both a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in 2022. She has also been a National Certified Counselor since 2019.
In his letter nominating Chin for the Thatcher Award, Craig Cashwell, Interim Chair of the Counseling Program, notes an impressive number of publications, national and international presentations, committee service in the counseling profession, leadership roles within the School of Education, and hours of volunteer time spent mentoring fellow students. During her time as a doctoral student, Chin has published three peer-reviewed journal articles, with three in press, and an additional three under review or in process, totaling nine works. She has presented at 12 national conferences and four international ones. She served as Co-director in the Flanagan Counselor Education Clinic. She was a committee member and proposal reviewer for both the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (ACES) Research Committee and the AACTE Holmes Pre-conference Research Program, a Graduate Student Member of the American Counseling Association (ACA) International Committee, and a planning committee member of the African American Graduate Women Affinity Virtual Group.
That she managed all this while completing her own studies and raising a family further reinforces the idea that she does not see obstacles, but opportunities. Even when a goal seems impossible, she finds a way.
“Sometimes when your plate is full and overflowing, you suddenly find you have a bigger plate,” she says with characteristic optimism. Other times, she adds, you need to rely on a strong support system. Chin is quick to credit those who have supported her: her husband and her faculty advisors. Of the people who have influenced her the most during her time with the William & Mary School of Education, she cites professors Natoya Haskins Ph.D. ’11, her first advisor, and Jessica Martin, her current advisor.
“Dr. Haskins definitely set the foundation for me to succeed. Besides just weekly meetings with me, she really talked to me about the details of what to expect from academia, and she always made herself accessible no matter how busy she was. I always know I can reach out. I still contact her now.” Haskins invited Chin to work on one publication currently in press, and they are now collaborating on a second.
She also credits Jessica Martin, current coordinator of the online counseling program and chair of Chin’s dissertation committee with supporting her as she completed her degree.
“Dr. Martin has mentored me in a way that has literally given me a blueprint for how to mentor students. She’s leading me through this path, and at the same time teaching me how to lead others, and I know if I can do the same for my students, they will be successful.” Dr. Martin, she elaborates, is like the ideal tour guide, providing not just names and dates, but all the interesting details, history, and little-known facts.
“She’s not just your average tour guide,” adds Chin. The same can be said of Chin. She’s not just your average student.
“She is a transformative educator committed to excellence in the preparation of professional counselors through mentoring, teaching, supervision, and action-oriented research to address critical social issues in society. She masterfully combines the paradoxical traits of confidence and humility, focus and flexibility, and positivity and realism,” said Cashwell in his letter of nomination. “Of critical importance to the counseling profession, [Ms.] Chin models flexibility, integrity, creativity, and empathy for others in her work.”
Her unique qualities of confidence, humility, positivity and realism were expressed eloquently in her graduation speech when she acknowledged that she would be adding Ph.D. to the “alphabet of letters behind her name” that already includes M.Ed., LPC, LMFT and NCC. This playful description became a powerful way to drive home a serious point. While she adds a doctorate to her credentials, she said, she is only four generations removed from relatives whose names were not known or valued. Her family includes an indentured servant and enslaved people whom she took the time to name and honor for the crowd assembled there to honor her.
Watch her acceptance speech as part of the School of Education’s Commencement Ceremony.
