Transfer Application

Discuss your interest in your major. Tell how your interest developed and describe a related work or volunteer experience.

          "I can see myself going to college and becoming a child psychologist", is what I remember telling my friends my freshman year of high school. When I was little girl, I observed everything and everyone around me. I never asked any questions but paid close attention to the way people behaved in different situations.

            As I got older, I was told more and more that I had a way with kids. At first I thought it was because I let them make a mess in my room. But soon I realized it was because I listened and held conversations with them. I put myself in their shoes and made them feel comfortable talking to me about anything and everything. Patience was also a big part since sometimes they got out of control. But I managed to seek different ways to settle them down and always it worked. I began to wonder, "Why psychology? Why not a social worker or a teacher?" I soon got my answers when I volunteered to be a mentor.

            In my community, there is a tutoring center where I use to go for extra help. Being a freshman in high school allowed me to be a mentor. I met with the kids twice a week for about three hours. I assisted them with their homework, projects, and helped them create study guides for any upcoming tests. But it did not always go as smoothly as I intended.

            Some kids did not understand the homework or what they were learning and did not want to understand it. They would give up so easily and it made me question why. I wondered how they were raised, what kind of environment they lived in and how they viewed school as a whole. Although they were "too young" to think about college and their future, some answers I received were quite sensible and interesting.

            Over time, some shared that their parents were hardly ever around when they needed help or their parents were too strict and they just wanted to play. One even said that they barley attended school and always got into fights. Now you would think a child is too young to notice these things about their parents, but they did and it had a negative impact on them.

            After three years volunteering there, I better understood why they behaved the way they did and was able to change their state of mind. They did not have the guidance or a set role model like I had when I was younger. I realized I have a lot to give back based on my own experiences and was more certain of what I wanted to become in my life. Making a positive impact on a child's life is a grand thing. To achieve this goal, child psychology is what I decided to pursue at the end of my junior year of high school.