Chaffey Professor Hannah Lucas Blends Music, Resilience, Research in Flow Presentation

With a carpet of smoke at her feet, and an acoustic guitar in her hand, Associate Professor of Psychology Hannah Lucas strummed chords and closed her eyes in focus.

It was a moment of more than just music and entertainment. The performance displayed something Lucas considers central to her life and career: flow.

“The best moments usually occur if a person's body or mind is stretched to accomplish something difficult,” Lucas said. “As a professor I often think about this and how I can make sure that students have an optimal experience.”

Flow is a term in psychology that describes a state of mind when a person’s skills match the challenge of a task. Lucas delivered her presentation “Flowing Together: When Optimal Experience Meets Meaningful Connection” as “Faculty Lecturer of the Year” April 15.

Lucas, a full-time professor at Chaffey since 2018, continues to explore flow with students as they conduct their own research.

“One of my career dreams was not only to become a community college professor, but to be able to provide research opportunities to students in community college before they transfer to four-year universities so they can be on par with their four-year peers,” she said.

Lucas, who faced numerous adversities including job loss, divorce and homelessness in the early 2000s, improved her life with a community college education. She earned two associate’s degrees in two years and then transferred to Cal Poly Pomona where she majored in psychology and later earned master’s and doctoral degrees at Claremont Graduate University.

She decided to teach at Chaffey to give back to students with stories similar to her own.

With the help of Professors Matt Vincent and John Glass, Lucas helped establish the Psi Beta honors society at Chaffey, giving students a chance to present their research at conferences.

“We actually have some data about social flow from our very own students here at Chaffey College, because that is something that I have continued to study during my time here,” she said.