Psychology Personal Statement Example 85

As an avid reader, I was always curious about language structure, but a moment when I took a keen interest in influence of languages on an individual and society came when I visited Ludwik Zamenhof Centre.

His conviction that one universal language could link all people and prevent the world from wars was a bit naive for me, since it assumed that a hostility between nations comes from mutual misunderstanding.

It didn't take into account neither human inclination to rule over the others, nor our unwillingness to listen to and consider opinions that differ from ours. However, his strong belief in language power made me notice how simple measures like a change of words order, play on words or combination of some sounds can influence our decision process.

This interest grew when I began to study Spanish and I set off on a trip to Spain. I was able to see there how much languages connect and divide people. In Catalonia and Basque country local languages are the biggest pride for those who emphasise a need of independence for these regions.

Language created by their ancestors is a link between them and their history. It drew my attention to the process of language evolution. It grows up of a culture, carries a soul of it and eventually also imposes a characteristic for that culture way of thinking. That's why throughout human history it was so common to thrust a language of conquerors upon defeated.

When I was learning Spanish, I found a lot of ideas to develop my language skills in interesting ways. I wondered why I discovered them so late.

This brought an idea to my mind that before we send children to primary schools, we should teach them how to learn in creative ways. Throughout their education we ought to show them various approaches to studying and encourage them to look for the most effective methods on their own.

At high school I took part in Latin competition that required of me to read many historical books. Stories that really stumped me concerned incredible memory skills of Greek bards and some Roman senators. It still surprises me that 2500 years after publication of Simonides' work about mnemonics and a further development of this field, we keep teaching children in boring and most of all inefficient ways.

In the first place, I would like to change it because it's a huge shame for our society that we lose so many talents due to these improper methods. Without tangible results it is difficult to pupils to stay motivated and I'm sure that this consequence will always follow current system of education.

During travel for the first time I talked with children that attended alternative school. They were fascinated by every subject because the teaching methods were encouraging.

My curiosity always went beyond standard school curriculum. At high school I attended several lectures on a local university related to cognitive science. It showed me how complex is a structure of our minds on many grounds and how little we still know about it. AI capability was another thing that gave food for my thoughts on how we can use it at schools.

Also, I participated in many nationwide competitions in Polish, History and Latin. My efforts paid off since I became a finalist of this last one.

Nevertheless, long essays based on reliable sources, which I had to prepare for Polish and History competitions, taught me how to present a thesis and prove it with arguments on an academic level.

In my future career I would like to carry out researches concerning human ability to learn and develop. I deem your university the best option for me to acquire skills on research methods due to high standards of teaching and modern technology. I hope that I will have a possibility to exchange my views with other students and the academic staff.