"As our circle of knowledge expands, so does the circumference of the darkness surrounding it." - Albert Einstein
A degree is not easily attained and every individual's experience on the path to graduation is uniquely variable. I’ve known since I was in high school that I wanted to pursue a career in Psychology. It has always been the path that to me just has made sense, as my interest in societal norms and behavioral cues was something that had always persisted throughout my childhood. It also helped matters that very early on in high school I was exposed to an Introductory Psychology class through the IB curriculum. Moving forward into my university career this interest brought me exposure to the research community and ultimately drove home my desire to pursue a graduate education. However along this path there were numerous financial and emotional constraints that I faced that made an already complex process that more difficult.
College is difficult for even the most emotionally balanced individual but when you're facing mounting debt and medical bills you sometimes have to resort to methods that test the precipice of your mental health. Working 3-4 jobs on top of school enabled me to gain back some of that financial security, but commonly at the cost of my sanity and my already persistent anxiety disorder. Now I would be lying if I said that I looked back on such experiences with fondness. In all honesty they were horrible and I ate an ungodly amount of sugar to help cope with the accompanying stress. Despite how stressful the experience was however, it did teach me a great about myself, what I was capable of, and what I wanted out of life.
Working as a Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant, and Resident Advisor alone have brought me such insightful exposure to the diversity that is present within the human disposition and have merely reiterated my interest in the variance present within human behavior. Humans are so inherently strange and confusing in their thoughts and behaviors and the variety of jobs I had, in addition to my Psychology courses, enabled me to view the behavior of others through a different lens. Instead of intuitively dismissing the actions of those who are different than I, I have been given the tools to try to understand others rather than judge them. We are all subject to bias and imperfections and my experiences have shown me that I can learn so much more from the world if I reserve judgment and focus on understanding those around me. This is what I wish to pursue in graduate school.