Psychology Personal Statement Example 64

Psychology is ubiquitous in society. Because of the mercurial nature of humans, there is always something different to study and analyse. I find this exciting.

Part of what draws me to psychology is how the dynamics of it affect daily life and behaviour. Why do some people commit crimes, and why do some self mutilate? It is puzzling why people were so different albeit having similar genetic make-up.

Though I did not have the opportunity of taking psychology as a subject in the A levels, I have always wanted to know more about human nature, and thus actively explored psychology issues that let me understand people’s minds. Sigmund Freud’s classic The Interpretation of Dreams provided much insight on how the human mind was interpreted and analysed.

The most shocking part for me was how Freud illustrated that all children mimic the legend of Oedipus and people are actually living in ignorance of the desires that offend morality.

The book allowed me to better understand abnormal psychology. The Stanford Prison Experiment was also interesting in the sense that it showed how behaviour was caused mainly by situation and not by individual personalities.

To further explore psychology issues, I volunteered in the ************ during my vacation. Though most patients were unwilling to open up, my key takeaway was that the patients wanted to be treated as normal people and not as people with mental problems.

I also volunteered in a local primary school to learn about the differences in mindsets of students towards learning, which will go on to affect their behaviour in class and possibly their quality of learning.

Children's inquisitive minds allowed them to participate in learning more actively like shouting out answers (which is rarely observed from secondary school onwards) and questioning answers given.

As such, this provides evidence that there might be a relationship between attitudes of students and productivity of their learning.

I participated in a project about remote sensing organised by the Young Defence Scientist Programme. Though it was unrelated to psychology, I relished the opportunity as it allowed me to have an analytical and systematic approach to my work, which I aim to achieve on a personal and academic level.

Also, to further develop my problem-solving skills, I took up H2 physics, H3 physics and H2 mathematics where I learnt to apply concepts to completely new situations. I hope to be able to further develop my statistical and problem solving skills, as I expect them to be relevant if I want to conduct research.

In school, I volunteered in a peer mentoring programme in Year One where I helped the weaker students in chemistry and physics.

Through the programme, I learnt to be a better listener and see things from my mentees’ viewpoints. I realised it is imperative for mutual sharing between two people for effective communication to take place.

Studies aside, I participate actively in school activities to experience school life to the fullest. I am a dedicated badminton player and have been representing my schools in competitions since I was ten. Not only being a key team player, I took part in various individual competitions where I won many medals.

Other than badminton, I tried out other sports like football and basketball and being the captain, I led my class to victory for both sports. Despite the fact that sports made rigorous demands to my academic schedule, I have always enjoyed the competition it brought, as I learnt the value of perseverance, sportsmanship and teamwork.

In my free time, I like to read to keep myself updated about current affairs. I also enjoy reading fiction as it allows me to see life through a different pair of eyes.

I consider myself to be a self-motivated, inquisitive and open-minded student with enthusiasm in learning. I hope that being able to study psychology in university will be a stepping stone for me to help people and learn at the same time.