EIU Personal Statement

I am currently in the final year of a Clinical Psychology Master’s program at Eastern Illinois University (EIU) in Charleston, Illinois. I had a great experience in my undergraduate studies at EIU, which compelled me to want to continue my education here by applying for a graduate program in Clinical Psychology. I have benefited greatly from my experiences at EIU. The Master’s program has helped me understand what it takes to succeed as a graduate student. Specifically, the program has been beneficial to the advancement of my knowledge on individuals with psychopathology and my decisions regarding my future career. I found working in mental health and substance use to be interesting, but I found myself to be far more fascinated in how the facility worked as a whole compared to the actual individual psychotherapy. After speaking with multiple professors and colleagues in my field of study, I decided that Industrial/Organizational Psychology would fit my research interests and my future career goals.

I have gained valuable experience in the field of mental health throughout my graduate studies. My current graduate assistantship is at an inpatient adolescent rehabilitation facility, and my internship is at a not-for-profit community mental health center. Many of my experiences at these facilities are related to common topics in I/O Psychology.

In my undergraduate studies, I had two semesters of independent study under Dr. Keith Wilson at EIU. During these two semesters, Dr. Wilson helped me better understand the research process and had me write two research papers. The first paper one on the validity of changes from the DSM-IV-TR to the DSM-5 and another on the effects of social influences in psychological diagnoses. Currently, I am in the process of completing my Master’s thesis on the effects of social anxiety and alcohol outcome expectancies on drinking behavior in college