My Commitment to Psychology
Several experiences have stimulated my commitment to psychology. The first is the fact that my mother is diagnosed schizophrenic. As a child I did not understand why her behavior was so different from other adults. Her behavior prompted my curiosity involving the development, duration, and treatment of schizophrenics. At an early age I gained insight about how society is not always accepting of those persons who are "unusual" or "abnormal". She is a high functioning person who is in an institution. I felt there had to be alternative ways to deal with her behaviors than to put her away from a close supportive family.
A second experience involves my academic background. The knowledge I have gained from class material and applied experience has inspired a desire to come to a more in depth understanding of psychological phenomena. This phenomena includes the mental illness and the adaptation difficulties associated with mental abnormalities. I have financed approximately ninety percent of my education in my quest for said psychological knowl...
In this book therapist Mary Pipher writes about her experiences at work with adolescent girls. It is intended to make the reader aware of the perils of being a teenager in today's sexualized and media-saturated culture. She talks about how this new and more hostile environment affects adolescent girls' emotional growth and development, and how hard it is to stay true to yourself while trying to fit in with peers. For the most part this book is Dr. Pipher's attempt to reach out to adolescents, as well as their parents and teachers, and tell them that this "problem without a name" is not a death sentence but rather a journey to adulthood, and tells adults how to help these impressionable young girls through what might be the most trying period of their lives.
Hester Prynne is seen by many as worthy of respect and admiration throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. She is ultimately seen as a hero in many areas of the novel. Literary critic Mark Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne is a heroic citizen who rises above the consequences of her sin. Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne should be seen as a noble hero through his use of repetition, praiseworthy diction, and admirable tone.
The character of Hester Prynne changed significantly throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life. However, the Romantic philosophies of Hawthorne put down the Puritanic beliefs. She is a beautiful, young woman who has sinned, but is forgiven. Hawthorne portrays Hester as "divine maternity" and she can do no wrong. Not only Hester, but the physical scarlet letter, a Puritanical sign of disownment, is shown through the author's tone and diction as a beautiful, gold and colorful piece.
The secrets which Hester keeps are because she is silent and hardly talks to anyone. “Various critics have interpreted her silence… as both empowering… and disempowering… Yet silence, in Hester’s case, offers a type of passive resistance to male probing” (Elbert, 258). One may refer back to the scene at the beginning when Reverend Wilson is trying to get the name of the other sinner. As Hester refuses, one may see this as a foreshadowing for other events. Hester is a strong woman who would not tell a soul the secrets that interconnect Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. The secrets however begin to take a toll of Hester especially as Chillingworth comes to town and is dying to know who the father of Pearl is.
I believe that, essentially, life consists of a series of choices. A grouping of these choices in one direction or another makes us who we are, and ultimately we have control over our lives. What makes one person different from another is his own set of choices. When going through life’s motions, we develop certain worldviews and ideas and values to live by. We develop an opinion of what makes a person “great.” In the well-known essay “Self-Reliance”, Ralph Waldo Emerson provides a beautiful way of approaching these choices, and he reveals a very inspiring set of values centralized around going through life answering only to yourself. I love the way Emerson evaluates the society we live in, and how he radically encourages being misunderstood and nonconformist. Emerson, like myself, exhibits values of saying exactly what you think and living only by what you believe to be the best.
The study of the mind, psychiatry, has in the last few years struck an interest within me. I wonder why we react differently when we face the same obstacles. For example, families with several children, raised by the same parents and in the same environment, yet turn out to be completely different individuals, sometimes very disturbed. The how, why and where of it all interests me. My immediate goal is to get my diploma and find out who I really am and what my soul desire truly is. I realize I have a deep desire to be of service to others. This is not a skill however, it's just me. I do feel one of my strongest skills is my artistic ability. I have a taste for and enjoy a diverse selection of movies, music, and reading material. I enjoy studying photography, biology, along with human behavior.
When I was a high school student I was deciding on potential career paths, there were three areas that sparked interest to me. Them being psychology, social work, and nursing. The results on many career aptitude tests suggested similar fields as well. Upon discussion about career choices in a class, a few of my colleagues, and teachers had discouraged me from entering the field of psychology as they stated that it was frightening to interact with individuals who were suffering, and that consequently I would develop a mental illness as well. The beliefs and attitudes surrounding mental health are very stigmatizing for individuals who have mental health disorders, this effects their accessibility and quality to receive help. The purpose of
“A Rose for Emily” is a story about Emily Grierson who kills her Yankee boyfriend Homer Barron and lives with his body in her bedroom for over forty years.
My love for neuroscience began long before my passion for neuroscience research. My favorite aspect of psychology since my initial encounter in Advanced Placement Psychology in high school is the nervous system and brain function in relation to behavior. It is fascinating how something so small serves such an extremely important and vital role in our body and behavior. The intriguing details of the brain fuel my desire to learn more about its functions. After completing the Biological Basis of Behavior and Neural System Courses at the University of Maryland, my knowledge as well as curiosity for the brain heightened.
I observe people around me and try to as well understand their actions and why they react the way they do in certain situations. The more I realized that I like to help people with their problems, the more I realized that I was in the right field to help people understand their own life better. I don’t always have the answers but, I do what it takes to understand a situation more so that I am able to get the answers. I believe that my purpose is to help people understand their life a little better and speak great over their lives. I would mostly like to help children out so that I am able to help them understand their feelings. Children are usually more vulnerable than anyone else in the world. Becoming a practitioner scholar in this field means learning about different mental illness so that I am better prepared when I encounter different patients. I took and abnormal psychology class where we briefly went over each mental disorder but I would like to be able to go more in depth. During my time in this class we did several case studies, where I learned to diagnose different clients and give possible treatments. I would like to go beyond this method and learn more as I get more into clinical psychology. Also I would like to indulge more in
I believe that psychology is an excellent field of specialty. I desire a program that affords me the opportunity to learn and train in a well structured environment with professors that not only love to teach, but that will push me past my limits and into a greater knowledge and success. I am not only in need of a wonderful fit for my education, but I do need the best fit for the family that I am raising. As I am furthering my education to become a skilled professional, an advocate, and in some senses, an educator, I need a program that opens the possibility to bring together both my personal and professional aspirations into an undivided fulfilling career.
I was in a remote village in the Peruvian Andes conducting art therapy with prisoners when I realized this was the most meaningful experience of my life, and it should not be. The study and practice of psychology are the place where my humanitarian and intellectual interests align. I am applying to the clinical psychology program to fulfil the training I need to continue to make meaningful contributions to society and also contribute to the field of psychology through research. A family illness that is now happily behind me delayed me from doing so sooner.
People in this world have many different struggles. Some deal with chronic pain, others with poverty and some even with the consequences of their bad choices. Numerous individuals also struggle with mental illness also known as various disorders that affect mood, personality, cognition and other areas of functioning. Mental illness is unique to the individual and can be experienced in a variety of ways. Three people that have experienced mental illness and all that it entails are Susanna Kaysen the author of the memoir Girl, Interrupted, John Nash-a mathematician whose life was the basis of the film A Beautiful Mind and a woman named Theresa Lozowski who is a medical professional. All three struggle with a mental illness and the way they view their illnesses and the aspects of it are similar in several ways as well as different. These similarities and differences are witnessed in how they view their symptoms, their diagnoses, how they view the cause of their mental illness as well as how they view mental illness in general. There were also similarities and differences in their views on taking medication as well as the treatment of psychotherapy.
Through the use of setting, characterization and theme Faulkner was able to create quite a mysterious and memorable story. "A Rose for Emily" is more than just a story though; her death represents the passing of a more genteel way of life. That is much more saddening than the unforgettable scene of Homer's decaying body. The loss of respect and politeness is has a much greater impact on society than a construction worker who by trade is always trying to change things. Generation after generation Miss Emily happily escaped modernism by locking herself in her house the past.
...ach other “Frosts poetry has a very vast range, from extremely long detailed poems, like ‘after apple picking” and “a servant to servants” or relatively short like, “A soldier” or “A question” (which is only four lines). Each of his poems encompasses something different but all have a strong sense of sameness when it comes to the message he wants to communicate to us. A brook in the city represents to a great extent, Frosts overall style and view on poetry. The poem has a rhyme scheme, he uses a vast amount of figures of speech and his language is colloquial, this goes for most, if not all of Frosts poetry. The poem also encompasses his thoughts and views on mankind and their response to the universe. Frost wants us as the reader to comprehend his message and find some sort of wisdom in it. If we do, then Frost has accomplished what he set out to do with his poetry.