a career in school psychology

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Success does not always stem from the amount intelligence we possess; being successful has a great deal to do with believing that we are capable. Working with special education children, has taught me so many things and this is one of them. In my first year as a paraprofessional, I worked with a child who was told he would never be smart. For his first three years of school, his teachers and parents did everything for him because they too, believed he would never be capable to do them himself. Those words and actions affected him more than they could ever imagine. He withheld any confidence or happiness and expressed many negative feelings about himself. On his first day at our school, we started him with basic skills that we knew he could be successful at. We amplified how amazing he was doing every day, we told him how smart he was and we never let him talk negatively about himself. Within a matter of weeks, the confidence that was omit began to appear. He began to get excited to come to class because of all the positive feedback he continuously received. Once he felt capable of success, he was absorbing and understanding what we were teaching alongside his peers. He began to excel to the point that he got the highest math score on a standardized test in his mainstream classroom! It was truly astonishing that as soon as he felt someone believed in him, he learned to believe in himself and he used that confidence to drive his success. The many experiences I have had like this one, reinforce that becoming a school psychologist is the ideal career for me.
School psychology is the perfect career for me because it combines everything I have a passion for in life. I have always found human behavior very intriguing and it has always...

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...ke connections and understand concepts to produce theories and solutions to problems. I have a great sense of social perceptiveness which allows me to observe and access situations effectively. I have strong comprehensive reading skills that allow me to understand what I am reading and to be able to make inferences and connections to my daily life. It is imperative to be a comprehensive reader when reading research articles to be able to transfer findings to help similar situations I may be faced with.
In conclusion, I have had many definitive experiences that have confirmed that school psychology is a career that is strikingly well suited for me. My ambitions, characteristics, passions and determination will drive my success in this field. I am eager to have the opportunity to receive a graduate level education in this field in such an prosperous program at NAU.

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