I was introduced to the field of Psychology in middle school thanks to a career assesment. This was also during the time when I wanted to become a chemical engineer. At first, I was not so sure if the assement knew the right career path for me; fortunately it did. In the end, I can not imagine not pursuing a career in Neuropsychology and I am not the best at math. I am satisfied with the career path that I have chosen and am confident I will enjoy the journey of being a psychology major.
Unfortunately, that journey is not always sunshine and rainbows. There will be moments that will reaffirm your choice in pursing psychology and stressful days where you may consider majoring in sociology instead. Here are some moments that all psychology majors will relate to, in and out of the classroom:
1. Being asked if you can read minds
No, and good for you that you cannot read mine right now either.
2. Realizing how broad the Psychology field is
When I was first introduced to Psychology, I assumed the field would not go past having a client lay down on a sofa telling me their problems. With branches like Cognitive Neuroscience, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, and Neuropsychology, I assumed wrong. Contrary to what I initially thought, the field of Psychology is very diverse.
3. Constantly hearing about Pavlov, Classical Conditioning and Operant Conditioning
Okay, how many times am I going to hear about a dog salivating because he saw a steak? I get learning about Pavlov and Classical Conditioning because Learning Psychology does apply to all fields of Psychology. I just think teachers should start giving more examples.
4. "You know there are not that many jobs out there for psychology majors right?"
Despite to common belief, the Occupational Outlook Handbook published by the U.S. Department of Labor states that the demand for Psychologists is expected to increase by 19 percent through the year 2024. However, earning a doctorate degree will give you the most options.
5. Learning more about yourself and others
In my learning psychology class, we had a group project where we would modify a trait or activity that one of the group members wanted to extinguish. For example, because Matt wanted increase his consumption of water over one week, he logged his current consumption before the modification began to create a baseline. After that, he was rewarded with snickers after drinking enough water. We learned the amount of water to consumed per week is subjective for each person and that Matt really liked snickers.
6. Writing in APA format
Enough said.
