Perspective Shift: One Graduate’s Journey Through the ABA Program

(SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY — May 27, 2025) If 10 years ago you had told Mackenzie Albert that she’d one day earn a Master of Science degree “in anything,” she says, she probably wouldn’t have believed you. And yet that’s the very achievement the graduate student in applied behavior analysis (ABA) will mark when she receives her diploma at Empire State University’s Rochester commencement ceremony on May 29. 

“Now I am all about spreadsheets and data, and I want to geek out over it,” she says. “That’s such a shift in perspective for me.” 

Prior to enrolling at SUNY Empire in 2022, Albert built a career in education. She served as a kindergarten teacher for students with autism and also worked as a special ed instructor for preschool-aged children, among other roles. After nearly two decades in the field, though, Albert—who previously earned an M.A. in special and general education from New York University in 2009—sensed she was ready for a change.  

“Teacher burnout is so high, and I was reaching that point. I couldn’t honestly see myself in a classroom case-managing students in a teacher role for the next 20 years,” she explains. “I thought, what could I do where I can use my talents as an educator in a different capacity?” 

Looking to “make a difference in a different way,” she says, Albert began SUNY Empire’s graduate ABA program as a part-time student. While enrolled, the Western New Yorker has juggled her classes alongside full-time work and personal obligations, including raising her two daughters (now ages 12 and 14). Albert credits her husband and children with helping her navigate what she says was sometimes a difficult balancing act. She says her professors and, notably, the ABA department heads have been an important part of her support system too. 

“Most of the time in college, I feel like your access to the people in charge is limited. With Dr. [Lauren] Allen and Dr. [Noor] Syed, I just felt like I had access to them, their expertise, and their mentorship, and I felt like I could be honest about struggling at moments … I didn’t feel judged for needing additional support or asking questions or needing clarification,” she says. “They’ve created a community where I feel like at any point in my career I could go back to them and they would answer an email or get on a quick call.” 

After graduation, Albert plans to continue working in her current school district, where she supports students in kindergarten through second grade as a behavioral analyst. She also aims to start networking with local clinics that offer ABA services as she prepares for where her career—and newfound confidence in her abilities—will take her next.  

“This [experience] helped me to foster and nurture my relationship with myself. I gave myself something that was really hard to do and I did it, but I also learned a whole lot about myself—that I’m stronger than I think I am and that I can do hard things,” she says, adding that she hopes her journey through the ABA program offers a positive example for her children. “We’re so much more capable than we give ourselves credit for. That was my biggest take away.”