Summary Of Personal Statement

After learning about systemic and community issues that adolescents face, I am eager to work in the field of adolescent development. My next step in working towards my passion of assisting communities, families and youth is to obtain a PhD in Developmental Psychology from the University of Michigan. I am committed to conduct research that can be used to inform policy to help disadvantaged people have better quality resources. I am broadly interested in the way that family, school, and community contexts help foster resilience in youth affected by neighborhood and family adversity. For example, I am currently working on my honors thesis with Dr. Rosario Ceballo, which looks at how Latino adolescents’ perceptions of neighborhood belonging is

Rosario Ceballo’s Resilience in Context (RIC) lab. I joined the RIC lab to learn more about the issues low-income students face. I have helped administer surveys, entered around 250 daily diary entries, and transcribed interviews. This experience has fueled my desire to work with adolescents, and opened my eyes to communities different than my own that, nevertheless, struggle with similar issues. I have also worked in Dr. Rona Carter’s Adolescent Interpersonal Relationship lab where I looked at adolescents’ self-perception of puberty development, relationship with mother, thoughts on race and gender identification. For the Family DYAD project, I participated in the creation of codes for mother-daughter conversations, transcribed interactions, and coded responses. Participating in this project helped me to think deeply about the way young adolescent girl’s experiences with puberty, race, gender, and their mother-daughter relationship influences their identity. Finally, I have also worked in Dr. L. Monique Ward’s Media and Sexual Socialization lab in order to learn more about black representation and stereotypes. I created codes for a project about black adults’ perceptions of what it means to be a good woman and mother. I also analyzed current TV series and movies’ representation of black women. This experience gave me insight on how our self-perception is

If admitted to the program, I would be very interested in working with Dr. Rosario Ceballo due to her research interest and involvement in the Psychology and Women’s Studies departments. Her work in various fields and interest in adolescents, immigrants, and women in relation to their environment is one of the many reasons why she has been a great inspiration. The problems that people of color face, such as parenting in communities with high rates of violence, are aspects that I have not only experienced, but also topics that are intertwined with my interests. Dr. Stephanie Rowley interest in children’s family influence, academic motivation, schooling, and identities such as race and gender are also in line with my interests. I believe academic transitions for adolescents can be very trying, especially for racial minority students. Factors such as family, community, and school issues can cause stress, alter academic achievement, and reshape their lives. Both Dr. Ceballo’s and Dr. Rowley’s research relate to and complement my research interests. Working under their guidance will allow me to become a well-rounded researcher to address serious and urgent social issues. As a doctoral student of the University of Michigan, I will be able to hone my skills as a researcher by working with