5 Questions: An interview with Wayne Wolcott, Supervisor, Transitional Housing Programs
A little bit about Wayne: He is Massachusetts born and bred, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Sacred Heart University and a masters from the University of Massachusetts in clinical psychology. A doctorate is in his future (eventually), and he hopes to be accepted at the University of La Verne, where coincidentally his fiancée is an English professor. To balance out the stress of his job he plays basketball almost every day, and is “very, very, very into movies – all genres – more streaming and rentals than going to a theater. My fiancée and I like to go to flea markets and bookstores looking for bargains on DVDs.”
What do you like most about working here? “The fact that even though we don’t always see it, we’re making a difference in someone else’s life. To be fair, they don’t always realize it, either. We do hear from successful former clients from time to time. It’s not that we’re looking for gratitude, but it’s nice to hear.”
If you could learn anything, what would it be and why? “I’d love to learn to play an instrument – either piano, guitar, or violin. I have no musical talent, but love music and always have to be listening to something.”
Who is your role model? “My dad, because he’s not a quitter, no matter what adversity faces him. I always try to keep that in mind.”
When you were a kid, what did you want to be and why? “The plan was for me to be a doctor. In fact, I did two years of pre-med. But I wanted to be a surgeon, and I have bad knees, so standing for hours during a surgery wouldn’t be possible. I always wanted to help people, though, and in college my classmates would always come to me to talk about their problems. They said, ‘Hey, have you ever thought about psychology or therapy?’ It’s clear that that’s the way for me.”
What saying or motto do you live by? “I have two: one, ‘every single second is a chance to turn it all around,’ and two, ‘we should concern ourselves less with the pursuit of happiness and more with the happiness of pursuit.”
