Aiming to Become a Psychologist: Why I Want to Be a Psychologist

Curiosity is what makes us human beings. Our heads are filled up with ideas and assumptions and, yet we have no idea why. For quite some time, I have always asked myself, 'what is going through that person's head,' 'could that person be going through something and hiding it well,' 'why did he/she do that.' I have become curious and intrigued, leading me into researching the causes of why that person behaved the way they did. As someone big into crime and psychological shows and movies, I have come to love the mind and how it functions. Humans are the most complicated and destructible things on this Earth. Why is that? I’m interested in pursuing a career in Psychology because it is a career that has many different fields within the career.

From the ages 14 to 16, I was very curious about what it is I would be good at. Computer science? No. Medical Examiner? Possibly but no. Surgeon? No, I didn’t want to go to school for long plus residency. I came across Diagnostic Medical Sonography, truly loved the idea because I got to choose if I wanted to work in a hospital and I love technology and babies. I wanted to know how I could help people and put their minds at ease. Watching things like Law & Order SVU, Cold Case Files, Confession Tapes, and documentaries on killers and people in general, pulled me in even more. When I told my mother, I wanted to be a psychologist she told me if I wanted a job that was high enough and has good pay, I would have to get my Ph.D. I started to question if I wanted to become a psychologist and started leaning more into forensics.

From that time, forensic science was heaven to me, it was where I wanted to be. Researching forensic science frequently led me to find forensic psychology. It was a mixture of psychology and the legal matters of criminology, two of my favorite things became one. As I’m researching more about it, I wondered why forensic psychology, or any psychology wasn’t brought to light. “Both our genetics and our environment begin to affect our development long before we’re even born, and they continue to influence our learning until the day we die.” (CrashCourse). Forensic psychologist assists with child custody, civil law, mediation and so much more. (Franklin). Things like that can affect someone physically, mentally, and emotionally. Our genetic and environment changes how we think and how we perceive things because we as humans are curious, complicated, and destructible. I want to be there as a forensic psychologist to help someone legally and emotionally.

Today, I am still fascinated with the mind and the subject of psychology. Psychology isn’t about understanding why people behave the way they do or trying to understand oneself, but the study of “why.” “Using empirical methods, psychologists apply that universal curiosity to collect and interpret research data to better understand and solve some of society’s most challenging problems.” (American Psychological Association). This is the reason I found psychology interesting and wanted to get into the career. The curiosity builds upon oneself and you start to wonder if the love you have for something is for you or the help of others. I’ve often heard those around me question themselves and wondering if they behave the way they do because of their personalities. I took it upon myself to take those personality tests and concluded that a robot can’t tell you who you are as an individual.

With many things in this world, I didn’t know the true aspects of psychology. I never wondered if there were any other fields of psychology because we’re taught that psychologist are the people who sit with you and discuss feelings. “Psychology helps people understand what happens in the mind. It educates us about personalities and how people learn. It’s beneficial to know how the mind works because it allows us to tailor the process of giving information in a way that is appropriate for our brain development.” (Jacobs). Psychology is stereotyped to the point we have no clue what psychologist do as a living. They are not the individuals who sit in a dark room, with a couch, or in a white room with bars on the window, they are the ones who go to different countries, work in a hospital, a school, even a business company.

People like psychologist are the ones who can only answer the questions we’re all asking, why? I not only love psychology because it’s the study of people and how they function but being able to understand why certain things happen. “Sure, there are psychologists who help solve crimes and there are plenty of professionals who help people deal with mental health issues. However, there are also psychologists who contribute to creating healthier workplaces. There are psychologists that design and implement public health programs. Other psychologists investigate topics such as airplane safety, computer design, and military life.” (Cherry). Working as a forensic psychologist not only gives me the opportunity of a lifetime but the opportunity to shine a light on it and many other fields of psychology. With all the different characteristics and stereotypes towards psychology, the main goal is to help, treat, and recover people who are in need.