While some student might claim that the course was daunting, I highly contradict the opinion because I found mine to be fulfilling. However, the entire learning process was met with some of my most challenging period in life. Even though on numerous occasions I felt pushed to the wall by the obligations placed upon me as a student when it comes to performing various activities like conducting extensive researches, the desire to learn psychology always motivated me to look forward to the next lesson. Since the first time I sat for the psychology class, I would never have chosen anything to be different. In fact, times seems to have shifted really fast even though I can vividly recall “Introduction to Psychology” was the first topic I handled. The general experience has been fulfilling both socially and academically.
To begin with, my definition of psychology at the moment is very different from when I sat for my first class. Unknown to most individual, the meaning of psychology is deeper than how most individuals would define it. During the early stages of the course, I viewed psychology as a course which deals with the mind of humans. The most important aspect that motivated me to love the course was the close relationship that the subject has in our personal daily lives. Being in a position to understand individual’s way of thinking, the reason behind why certain individuals behave as they do, as well as how one can shape the meaning of something in their mind because of how they have been brought up are among the many reasons why I was keen to study this course. The relevance of the course is in the fact that, the psychologist is responsible for studying various disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder. After that, numerous programs with the intention to assist individual suffering from the disorder overcome their condition are created.
Unknown to most individuals, a majority of the current treatments have been facilitated or enhanced by a psychologist. Therefore, if the course was irrelevant, it implies there would be lack of many prevention and treatment procedures when it comes to handling some human disorder (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). To begin with, I found the introduction part of psychology not only appealing and less complicated than I had anticipated but also enlightening and interesting. During the course, I learned about the common approaches exercised in psychology, i.e., psychoanalytic, behavioral, physiological, social/culture and cognitive. Basically, every activity that humans engage in is connected to psychology. Personally, the course has been relevant as it has allowed me to understand my life much better. Additionally, the course has allowed me to learn and understand other individuals.
The above process is instrumental in my life because, if an individual is able to understand the mindset of those around him, it is easy to modify one’s action as well as assist other individuals in modifying their mindsets. The lessons learned from the course place in a better position to estimate how different individuals might perceive and respond to various factors (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). This has been relevant in allowing me to prevent getting into conflict with fellow students and even instructors.
Human behaviors in some cases might appear to be somehow extraordinary. Individuals do not always adhere to the behavior, which is acceptable to everybody. Periodically, some people are bound to stray from the usual path, which leads to them standing out. Prior to taking the psychology course, I used to overlook this common behavioral phenomenon. Currently, whenever I assess an individual’s behavior that I find unusually, I am able to form a hypothesis on what motivated the individual to behave in such a manner. For instance, I have a friend who is well known for being a compulsive liar. The friend is well known for the fabrication of events and stories, which can be easily be distinguished as lies.
After learning psychology, instead of calling out the person concerning his lie, I easily find myself trying to understand the reason behind the person’s stories as well as to establish any hidden relevance that might be present in his stories. Based on my assessment have established that the individual grew up around a child who required special needs (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). Therefore, it was common for most member of the house to lie to the child for the purpose of keeping him calm. Sadly, the lying situation has manifested itself and developed to be a part of the individual’s life. The knowledge attained from learning Adlerian Psychology by Alfred Adler was instrumental in helping me understand that individuals are different and unique.
Engaging in the class has assisted me to establish the most appropriate career path I may pursue the moment I have attained my Bachelor’s in Psychology. During my personal pre-semester survey, I answered the question of how prepared I was for the careers associated with psychology as “very prepared.” During the period, I had not yet learned of nearly all the career paths I can pursue. In fact, my initial career objective was to become a teacher when I complete the course. As a result, I belied that Psychology would be instrumental in my career. Other than being a teacher, the other possible career I knew I could pursue was becoming a therapist or psychiatrist or any career, which involved me sitting and listen to psychological issues that individual is facing before developing a solution. Back then, I was not knowledgeable about the vast array of careers that were available. Currently, I have a myriad of the career paths I can decide to pursue the moment I finish the course.
In high school, writing has always been one of my strongholds as far as academics are concerned. However, as I was starting the course, I found it challenging to step beyond the normal high school’s five paragraphed essay. With an utmost commitment to improving and engaging in several practices while writing my essays, I have greatly improved in my coherence as well as the ability to maintain a logical argument in a well-organized manner. In fact, my current writing is more concise and no longer practice “padding.” Another lesson after writing several psychological essays are my ability to establish numerous difficulties within a text rather than sticking to one-sided arguments when writing different types of essays. Additionally, I have learned how to establish peer reviewed journal article and use interlibrary loan to order books, which largely expands the scope of my research, as I can access a large number of scholarly papers, which have credible references.
The topic I found most interesting in the course focused on depressive disorders. The topic provided an extensive understanding of how to manage my emotions. Just like normal individuals, I at times break down whenever I am disappointed. Breaking down can be severe and in numerous cases, may result in depression disorder in case an individual is not able to manage the condition effectively (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). Having learned about the topic exposed to a great deal of information on how I manage my emotions in difficult situations and prevent the probability of it advancing to a chronic state. Additionally, I tend to use the knowledge to assist friends and family members whom I feel might get overwhelmed by their emotional and psychological imbalance.
Life consists of endless lessons. The most interesting aspect of the course was learning about coursework, which had largely horned my skills in critical analysis. Rather than paying attention to suggested biographical background and meaning (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). I have learned to continues inquiring “why” on various different levels. I often challenge myself to analyze a situation critically to make the best out the present circumstance.
The most significant improvements that I establish after a careful analysis of my pre and post-semester surveys was in understating the appropriate utilization of PsycINFO. Even though the achievement might sound as less relevant considering the things I have mentioned, it does have a significant impact on my academic life since it was necessary to utilize PsycINFO throughout the entire Psychology class (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). In fact, a majority of the research papers I handled, I was required to use PsycINFO articles as the basis of most researches. In fact, the concept is applicable in different papers, and I have already written an English essay, which required the use of PsycINFO.
While the knowledge I have accumulated from this lesson is enormous, I believe I still have a lot to learn. One major area of concern in psychology, which I would like to learn more involves drugs and drug’s addiction. Drugs and its addictive effects are an issue that has faced great debate across the world. The reason for my preference for this course is because most individuals who are affected tend to be students and young individuals (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). Considering the adverse effect experienced because of drug usage, I believe being able to understand the psychological aspect of the issue will provide me with the knowledge on how to approach the issues. I will be able to avoid becoming a drug user as well as to establish appropriate methods to help drug addicts within the society overcome their addiction.
Another core thing I have been able to solve after taking the course is getting a better understanding of how to watch my general well-being. It is not unusual to have individuals get stressed out by their academic lives. If the stress is not handled professionally by an expert, it may result in severe health conditions. Most of the stress is brought about by personal issues like frustrations, failure to attain objectives I had set as well being disappointed by those around me. However, the knowledge from the course has equipped me with the knowledge on how to determine the level of stress I might be facing as well as to establish appropriate measures on how to minimize the likely hood of the stress advancing beyond my control. Through various theories learned in psychology, I have been able to develop a stress journal, which aids in establishing the potential stress triggers and the most appropriate way by which I can reduce the stress. I have also shared the knowledge with several members of the class to help anyone who might find the information necessary for their condition.
My most frightening topic was on schizophrenia due to their characters of disabling brain diseases. This topic stood out since a victim will appear to be having a different personality yet they just have one, but it has been split among emotions and thoughts. The most depressing fact about the condition is that, in case an individual is born from either parent who suffers from Schizophrenia, they develop a 20% likelihood of getting a child with the same.
Furthermore, if as a child you have a twin who has been diagnosed by schizophrenia, the probability of the child developing the condition increases by 50% (Ciccarelli, Girishwar Misra, and White). Furthermore, the source of the disorder is yet to be established fully. While I found the topic a bit uncomfortable, learning the disorder exposed me to enormous knowledge about the condition, which made to adjust my perception about the disorder. Surpassingly, even though it was among my dreaded topics, I spent much time reser4ching about the condition beyond the normal class time to understand it better as well as to have the necessary knowledge, which might prove to be beneficial later in life. The knowledge varies from helping individuals diagnosed with the condition live a normal life.
Undeniably, the introduction to the Psychology class has been instrumental in shaping my perception on most academic concepts. Assuming I had taken the class much later in my academic career, I would not have attained the enormous benefits like I currently have. Even though I have mentioned various advantages associated with learning psychology, those listed above are not the only benefits I attained. On the contrary, they are among the area of focus I believe I have experienced tremendous improvement. In fact, according to my post-academic survey, I have experienced an increase in every activity I engaged in. The results are an indication that I have learned a lot from the course. As a result, I would greatly recommend that a student who intends to major in Psychology to take the class much earlier as the lesson will not only benefit them in the course but even in other aspects such as social interaction within the learning institution.
In conclusion, the psychology course has greatly changed my perception about life in general. Through the courses, I have been able to understand the motivation behind different actions committed by individuals around me as well as the reason why individuals tend to think in a specific manner. Undeniably, psychology has been instrumental in shaping my current perception of the world. The most astonishing fact about psychology is that it occurs in our daily lives and being able to understand it makes one’s existence on earth less daunting. As a student, I have to interact with my students, who are from different social and ethnic backgrounds. The knowledge learned from the class made it possible for me to easily blend in with different individuals and develop a long-lasting, meaningful relationship. Looking back at the start of this course, I look forward to taking more lessons to foster my understanding of psychology and improve my way of life.
Works Cited
Ciccarelli, Saundra K., Girishwar Misra, and J. Noland White. Psychology. Pearson Education India, 2009.
