Richard M. Donovan wrote the book “paddling the Wild Neches”. Once the story is fully read, the realization of what a human will do in order to keep an important place that values so much, it is magnificent. Richard was 66 years old during his 200 mile canoeing expedition, he did not think that he was going to make it happen. However, he accomplished what he felt he needed to do so he can open minds about a place that needs their help. He captured what was hidden in the river and wanted to tell his story about it.
Growing up, my favorite show was always How It’s Made on the Discovery Channel. I would stare at the television in awe at the intricacies of each item being made. From then on, I always wanted to know how and why things worked the way they worked. This led me to fall in love with science and the human body. This love was spurred on by my parents, who both work in the medical field.
The human mind is one of the most intricate structures that God has ever created. Understanding that each and every individual holds their own thought pattern with varying degrees of complexity is difficult. Nothing has more influence over a person greater than the influences of the mind. It is responsible for behavior, which then turns into characteristic habits. Psychology as we know it today has only been in practice since the early 1900’s.
Admission into the University of Florida is a catalyst to achievements and progression of ideas and knowledge and dreams and aspirations. Although it is just a degree that defines what you receive from a college education, it is the individuals you meet and connect with that create the platform of excellence that provides opportunities that contribute to a flourishing adulthood. I hope to solidify connections and experiences that permeate not only in my mind, but in those collages as well. To achieve this goal and reach out to the student community of Gainesville I plan to implement and refine a Senior Freshmen mentoring program, create the largest fundraising event during the Halloween season to help support families of severely mentally disabled
When I was younger I imagine myself influencing younger generations, to be able to make them believed everything was possible, to make them realized that underprivileged students can attend college. Now that I’m halfway of my second year of teaching, I come to realize that my bachelors is not enough. I realized that I want to influence more than just my classroom. After a couple of weeks of thinking what could be the best way to reach a bigger crowd of students, I decided that the best way was to pursue my Masters in Education. Becoming a principal will allow me to influence other teachers and have more resources to help the younger generations.
In my own education, and now in my career as an educator, I see the impact passion has in the classroom and beyond. My purpose in applying to graduate school follows the principles of interest and passion. I worked in a field that left me feeling unfulfilled, and when considering a change, I looked back on things I truly loved, and experiences that really changed my life. In contemplating these two criteria I was brought back to my sophomore biology class. I had always enjoyed school, but science, which I had struggled with, was not something I was passionate about.
When you think about it, everything we say, do, and experience boils down to what goes on inside our skulls. To me, this is pretty mind-blowing, and every time I think about it, it renews my excitement for science. I remember when we studied neurology in anatomy and physiology; while I am sure it doesn’t even begin to compare to neuroscience course at Brown, it was my favorite unit. Additionally, while doing a research internship this past summer about psychology, I found myself very interested in the neurobiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder and how involved “hard science” was with a discipline that was once considered a “pseudoscience.” I want to complete a degree in neuroscience, although I have not yet decided whether I want it to be an AB or ScB degree.
What is Mind? The topic of metaphysics is a crucial part of philosophy, as metaphysics endeavors to answer the question of what reality is (Stewart, Blocker, & Petrik, 2013). It attempts to answer whether an object is real based on its existence as an object or whether an object is real based on its properties, and it also tries to answer the mind-body problem (Stewart et al., 2013). Many modern philosophers have contemplated whether the human body is simply made of physical matter or whether there is some nonphysical component to the body.
My passion for mathematics began when I was in preschool. I clearly remember myself indulging in the pleasure of counting to one hundred. Every year since then, I found myself pushing more vigorously to grasp more complicated mathematical concepts. It wasn’t until my sophomore year in high school that I narrowed down my interests into applied mathematics. In my sophomore year of high school I took AP physics and chemistry concurrently.
I am applying to study psychology in the Dornsife School of Arts and Sciences. One of the primary reasons that I am interested in applying is to take advantage of the research that is being done in this field at USC. USC is conducting cutting edge research which would afford me the opportunity to learn from professors who are at the forefront of their fields. This is especially important for the field of psychology, being that the psychology is changing so rapidly as we continue to explore how the brain works. Learning about the latest developments in this field from the people who are making this progress possible is essential to being successful at furthering our knowledge of the brain.
In 2009, my second term at Santa Monica College, I took a political philosophy class that initially sparked my interest in the mind, and further more where certain aspects like morality and ethics came from. As we transitioned from the early Greeks to philosophers like John Locke, my interest in psychology deepened. Though at the time I would go on to pursue my undergraduate degree in Philosophy, I always wanted, and had the intentions of eventually turning my sights onto Psychology as a career. As I began my studies into Philosophy, it became clear that the mind has always held my interest in some way. Philosophy taught me the diversity of thought, the diversity of the understanding of what thoughts and consciousness were, amongst many other subtle introductions into psychology.
What is the Mind? Introduction To try and explore the ‘mind’ it is necessary to examine if the mind and the brain are separate or if the mind and body are distinct from one another? Is the mind and body separate substance or elements of the same substance? Is consciousness the result of the mechanisms of the brain, wholly separate from the brain or inextricably linked?
My fascination with the discipline of psychology began in grade eleven when learning about Sigmund Freud’s theory of the unconscious mind, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Stanley Milgram’s study on obedience etc. There were two reasons why I found Psychology so captivating, one was that I was able to apply it to my own personal life. This was something completely new since, subjects such as physics, chemistry, and math are sometimes hard to “see”, relate to, or apply to one’s life. The second reason was that whenever I had homework or assignments due for that class I never felt like I was actually “doing homework”, meaning, I was actually motivated to study and learn. Due to this unique feature that psychology had, I decided to study psychology for my bachelor’s degree.
I have already studied abroad at one of China’s leading Universities, Fudan university, I am currently a teacher's aid for the Chinese Language at Kiski Prep school, and I’ve already surpassed the expected character recognition goal of my teacher by 700 characters. At most institutions, this would be enough for me to enter college with a minor in Chinese. At that point, what would be my motivation to continue my Chinese studies? I believe that UPenn’s East Asian Languages and Civilizations (EALC) major will allow me to continue my advanced language studies, and dive into Chinese Civilization studies. Unlike most colleges UPenn provides the opportunity to not only study Chinese civilization but Japanese as well.
I am meticulous. I am conscientious, analytical and exacting. This is how I characterized myself in the introductory paper for my course in theories of personality. The personality inventory included with the assignment diagnosed me with a predilection for empirical data and logical reasoning. It informed me that personality types like mine thrive in occupations that reward organization and accuracy.
