Psychology Personal Statement Example 20

Ever since I grew out of adolescence, and watched my little sister begin her life, I just couldn't stop myself from analysing her behaviour.

My little sister grew older and her behaviour and mood phases swung like a pendulum. As she developed and matured, my interest for psychology just grew even more avidly and I now find myself analysing the behaviour of family and friends, even work colleagues.

My research into the subject of psychology started at school and, before long, psychological and social theories had become a main part of my life.

My progression onto an Access to Higher Education course at Plymouth College of Further Education, taking Psychology and Human Biology as main subjects, Mathematics, English and Study Skills as secondary studies, has made me realise whilst having a good ground of Psychology from this course, there is so much more to learn and understand and I would hopefully gain all of this by taking a degree in psychology.

What is particularly interesting to me about this course is the potential to use my education and judgement to determine various problems and make the correct diagnosis for individual events on a regular basis whilst also challenging and cultivating my analytical and research skills and gaining a higher understanding of the world and people surrounding me.

I specifically enjoyed learning about Sigmund Freud on my Access Course, especially his theory on the psychosexual stages and his theories on the unconscious mind. The fundamental debates in psychology have also captivated me, for example, the nature- nurture and the free will - determinism debates.

Within the subject of the fundamental debates, I am especially interested in William James' (1890) theory of soft determinism, as he suggested that if our actions are parallel with our conscious ambitions and are voluntary then they are 'free' although soft determinism does also acknowledge a higher level of determinism than free will, which I actively agree with.

There is a continual sense of discovery involved in the subject of Psychology and Criminology and I have a great interest in understanding how, and why, the mind absorbs and processes information in the way that it does, examining certain cognitive processes and understanding why people commit crime and why our justice system deals with them the way it does.

My past employment has taught me many different skills, including interacting with other people, focus, and organisational mindsets. I also feel my experience of dealing with the public and work colleagues will prove an excellent attribute whilst working in a people centred discipline such as Psychology.

My empathy and intense personal interest towards the subject will prove a valuable asset and contribute to working towards my degree and enabling my attitude to remain very committed and positive.

I understand that life at university will be very demanding but I am positive that by using my commitment and skill to work hard under pressure, that I can accomplish and achieve my goals and it will lead the path forward to a rewarding career as a psychologist.

As well as gaining the qualifications that I need to progress in life, I hope to acquire more confidence in myself as well as making new acquaintances and enjoying my learning experience.

I have acquired competence from varied situations, people and foreign places and feel strongly that the knowledge gained would be helpful not only for the transition to university but coping with day to day university life.

The Psychology and Criminology course I would like to study is particularly interesting to me as I would like to broaden my knowledge and deepen my understanding of the subject. After the completion of my degree I would like to continue with further study and undertake training to become a psychologist.

I attended Bancroft's Independent Senior School in Essex and during my time there I participated in many sporting events such as athletics, hockey, netball and cross-country and I currently enjoy kickboxing sessions and go to the gym as often as I can as I do like to keep myself physically active.

Whilst at school, I was a valuable member of the school hockey and netball team and awarded the relevant house colours. Cross country is a passionate past time of mine and I took part in the London Mini Marathon and thoroughly enjoyed pushing myself to my personal boundaries.

Throughout school I was a member of many activity courses including girl Scouts and the Combined Cadet Force. I thoroughly enjoyed my time in the CCF as this taught me much about discipline, teamwork and, once again, pushing myself to my personal limits.

I left school after achieving 9 GCSE's Ordinary level. My qualifications easily gained entry to my school's prestigious 6th form but, due to a combination of emotional problems at home, and my desire to see the world; I left without talking up my place.

At this point I visited Australia and stayed with my uncle's family and worked for four months until I returned to the UK via the United States. When I returned from my extended “gap” leave I found myself in Plymouth staying with friends.

Since my return to the UK I have worked full time jobs including working as a call centre operative at 118 118 and as a data entry operator at the Royal Mail. Both jobs have both given me a chance to prove myself trustworthy, to be able to work as part of a team, and able to work on my own imitative whilst also having to meet regular deadlines.

At this moment in time I am attending Plymouth College of Further Education and also working part time for Royal mail.

Outside of college and work I have an active social life and enjoy meeting new people as well as filling my spare time with light reading including English and Spanish literature, with my favourite titles including 'The Dice Man' by Luke Rhinehart and 'Y Tu Mama Tambien' by Carlos Cuaron Alfonso.

I read a lot, covering a wide variety of subjects. My other passions comprise of visiting the cinema and an avid interest in films and media with also a passion for information technology.

I have an attraction to the Spanish language and culture and enjoy travelling through Europe regularly, as I speak Spanish and French. A principle love of mine has always been music and I can play the piano up to a grade 3 standard and thoroughly enjoy playing as this allows me to relax.

I have also been a member of not only my school choir but my local church choir as well, raising money for charities through several events.

I also completed my Bronze and Silver Duke of Edinburgh's awards and hope to progress to my Gold award whilst at university. This was a thoroughly enjoyable activity for myself and can't wait to continue onto my gold award. I particularly enjoyed the planning and undertaking of expeditions as they were physically and mentally challenging and encouraged teamwork to achieve a common goal and personal initiative.

The 'service' required for these awards were also greatly challenging and rewarding. For my bronze award I had my expedition on Breton Beacons and for my 'service' acted as a teaching assistant supervising local kayaking classes for young children. This also entailed helping to prepare activities and going away on kayaking weekends with the children.

My silver award included an expedition at Snowdonia and my 'service' was performing the duties as a teaching assistant at a local school, organising activities and generally helping the children to encourage them to learning.

I consider myself to be an analytical thinker and this, in addition with my enthusiasm for the workings of the human mind; will hopefully lead me forward towards a future career in the scientific field of Psychology. The combination of my passion in the subject and need to pursue a career logically suggests a career in Pathological Psychology.

I believe that I would be an eager undergraduate student who would be committed to the opportunity to study and broaden my knowledge 'horizon 'in a distinguished atmosphere.

My ambition has always been to study psychology and, although I have taken a fairly circuitous route to higher education, I do feel that I am now ready and fully committed to an extended period of study.

My appetite for learning is much sharper than it was when I left school and I believe that my maturity and outlook will stand me in good stead when I start my course of study.