A desire to know how things worked and why things happened started the process of designing my career path. Being thrust into the field of psychology and having an interest at an early age, it became easy to feed my ambitions and continue to learn over time. My interest in school psychology stems predominantly from my journey through education and my various experiences in the working world. I thrive on the fact that I get to see individuals grow and transform into prospering hardworking young adults in our society. A person’s mind is fundamentally constructed on a mix of various genetic factors, but it is also a conglomeration from experiences throughout a person’s life. Children are impressionable, and it is crucial to build early skills …show more content…
I owe much of my success so far in part due to my professors, current school psychologists, graduate students, and colleagues. Fortunately, Dr. Panahon gave me the opportunity to practice certain abilities by allowing me to work as a research assistant with school psychologists and school psychologists in training. Utilizing this opportunity, and honing my creative and determined disposition my skills as a research assistant were greatly improved. The result has been a revealed ability to analyze and interpret text, accurately communicate information, and the ability to write clearly. Having dependability and being able to live up to expectations of securing funding in grants, obtaining IRB approval, and presenting research at the Undergraduate Research Symposium is important to me and the team. Being a research assistant and member of the school psychology society has provided many volunteer opportunities. An experience that has greatly impacted me is being a mentor to a 6 year old girl through the YMCA big sister program. Gaining the trust of a young girl that hadn’t had good examples of adult interactions in her life put me in a role model position dealing with unique challenges. These new positions required me to think innovatively and adaptively. I have now observed different behaviors and can quickly adapt to various needs through methods I’ve learned from teaching children how to swim, observing in a classroom, and connecting with families from a variety of cultures. Realizing not every person is fortunate to have supportive parents, I would relish the opportunity to be in a problem-solving position providing interventions for children. My parents have always encouraged work ethic and learning to balance academic responsibilities while working full-time to pay for school. Handling new clients at my job challenged me to build rapport
The World of Psychology. (2002). A Pearson Education Company. Boston, MA: Samuel Wood & Ellen Green Wood p. 593
Many individuals, teachers or not, only do what they are asked or expected to do. However, going above and beyond and being able to have greater influence on a child’s life is my goal. I know I will love my job and in this position, children and families will be going through difficult and not normative life events. It is essential to extend further assistance to make each individual feel important. Being someone who can help families understand and make their lives a little bit easier by providing support and encouraging optimal development, I can hopefully make a meaningful impact on a child and/or family. The child and family satisfaction would bring happiness in itself and be worth more than
It was very gratifying for me to help and change the lives of these students. With my personal experiences, my passion for caring for these extraordinary individuals grew stronger. My purpose and vision in life are working with children, especially the mentally challenged; to get the help and support, they require to face the difficulties of life. By earning a Master’s in Psychology in Child and Adolescent Development, I will be able to provide the knowledge, theory, and best practices
Kuther, T. L., & Morgan, R. D. (2013). Careers in psychology: opportunities in a changing world. (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning/Wadsworth. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning/Wadsworth.
After over 15 years of working as a CNA and Caregiver, I decided that I wanted to continue my education in the medical field. In 2013 I took the first step towards gaining a better future with more experience as a medical professional. I enrolled into a Medical Assistant program at IBMC college of Longmont. It has been a long road and I am almost to the finish line having gained essential skills needed to move further into my career. It has been a grueling and eye opening experience for me being an adult learner returning back to school at 33 years of age. I persevered through these pass two years with courage and determination, never letting my short comings get the best of me. As I approach the end of my journey with IBMC I have realized that I have a passion for helping those persons who
Volunteering at a children’s crisis treatment facility, volunteering with Special Olympics, coaching children’s sports teams for 10 years and working as a substitute education assistant has increased my understanding of childhood development. Grandmound Elementary School provides me with opportunities to strengthen my leadership and collaboration skills, through teaching art (as a volunteer) to the 3rd, 4th and 5th grade and serving as PTA president. I was able to implement many enriching opportunities for students in areas of art, science, and reading. I learned to work as a team, set targets, achieve goals, give and receive guidance. Participating in these activities has confirmed that working with families and particularly children are my purpose.
Merrell, Ervin, Gimpel. School Psychology for the 21st Century. New York, NY: The Guildford Press, 2006.
I am interested in being a school psychologist for a variety of reasons. First, I believe that my background in working with children and families, and my B.A. in psychology are essential combinations that will be helpful in my pursuit of the degree. Second, I would like to work with children in a variety of educational situations, such as those in need of special education classes and those in talented and gifted programs. Third, I believe it is essential to work directly with the entire family system, not just the child. The child's progress depends on the home environment and the academic environment equally. This academic environment includes all professions (i.e., teachers, school counselors and psychologists, school administrators, and school nurses). Each professional must utilize his/her skills and training to determine the best course of action for the child and how it will interact with each and every other discipline. Unfortunately, many times, there seems to be poor communication between these individuals. I would like to be involved in helping to facilitate this necessary interaction between disciplines. Finally, my areas of interest are in brain injury rehabilitation; psychosocial development of children, especially self-esteem; and learning disabilities. I believe that becoming a school psychologist would be the best way to continue my work with children and their families while having an impact on the educational system.
One of my visions as a psychology practitioner scholar is becoming a clinical counselor. My purpose in psychology is to help people understand their life in a clear distinct way. I specifically want to target children and, help them grow and be more than they have the potential to be. I want to focus on the child development of children based on their environment. I want to be able understand children react the way they do in certain situations. Children have a way of not being able to express themselves fully so being able to help them understand their emotions.
impressionable^ during the difficult and already confusing part of their development. Thus what the media
A New Introduction, Hodder & Stoughton, England, 1998. *Nicky Hayes, Foundations of Psychology, Nelson Publishers, Surrey, 1996. *Cara Flanagan, A-Level Psychology, Letts Educational Publishers, London, 1994. *Diana Dwyer & Jane Scampion, A-Level Psychology, Macmillan Publishers, London, 1995.
My motivation is based on two things. Firstly, I really want to help other people as much as I can. The understanding of human behaviour is the key for me to help others improve their well-being. This made me start seeking for information and experiences beyond the university’s classes and books. There was 30 hours of supervised Clinical Child Psychology Practice, where I was shadowing a professional psychologist at an Educational Consultancy. I really liked my time there and I felt like I could not have chosen any other career. In 2014 I joined a foundation where we were developing autistic children’s social skills and perceptions with movements and exercises. In these months I saw different children with different disabilities. It was
In the developing stages of a child, psychological factors play a huge role in th...
Harlow: Pearson Education. Eysenck, M. W. (1994). Perspectives on psychology. Erlbaum: Psychology Press. Eysenck, M.W. (2003).
...preschool years they will learn to initiate and carry out tasks based on experience or exposure to those tasks. Interactions with parents, teachers, peers, and other adults are important in a child's life. These relationships actually shape the brain and lay the foundation for later developmental outcomes, from academic performance to mental health and interpersonal skills.