My Goal to Continue Studying Clinical and Educational Psychology on a University Level

I want to further my studies by taking a course in psychology as this will allow me to gain in-depth knowledge about the complexity behind a humans mind and the way their thinking and behaviour has an effect on their daily life. Through the TED talk ‘How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime’ and the documentary ‘Aftermath: the legacy of suicide’ showed how life events caused a negative impact on the development of the mind and their future relationships.

Whilst studying A-Level psychology, I have gained an interest in knowing more about our minds and understanding how our behaviour is affected by many factors, such as environmental and biological. In particular, I enjoy the topic of psychopathology because this discusses different mental health disorders and their explanations which lets me be open-minded and less judgemental about other individuals. Taking A-Level health and social care has helped me to be passionate about helping people, mostly children and teenagers. As the topic of building positive relationships was about “treating others well and helping out” as well as maintaining healthy relationships, whether it is informal or formal. A-Level maths has helped me to understand the statistical part, research methods, in psychology as this helps with the validity and reliability of studies. By volunteering at school events, I gained 50+ volunteering hours during which I gained leadership skills because, in some experiences, I may have to lead and organise.

Another skill that I improved on was my communication skills because school events can be busy so communicating with others about the task I was told to do. Through volunteering at a private nursery for 6 months weekly, I was helping out with the children and taking part in their activities because it makes me happy knowing that I have some sort of impact on individuals and their lives. NCS had taken place over the summer for 4 weeks in which I learned many experiences such as public speaking because a few times where i had to speak in front of an audience with my group as well as meet new people. I also enhanced my knowledge about photography as they taught me different characteristics of using professional cameras. As well as further my interest in photography as I enjoy taking landscape photographs because it makes memories as well as taking photos of nature from different perspectives. I took part in Duke of Edinburgh Silver Award, in which I completed 4 parts of the award; physical, skills, volunteering and expedition. This was very exciting as well as required hard work and commitment because of the many things that I got involved in, such as doing multisports and volunteering at the library as I like to read a variety of books. Arrival Education is something I applied in school which allowed me to get a coach who is very supportive and provided advice about my school and personal life and help to achieve my goals whether it’s long term or short term.

During these ongoing sessions has improved managing my time as well as my self-confidence. This allowed me to be more reflective and positive about the things that matter, such as studying, friendships, relationship and stress. Attending university would be challenging but help me be independent, meet new people who come from different backgrounds as well as pursue a career in something about clinical and educational psychology where i can be a part of something.