When I was younger, I could never truly understand how people didn’t automatically know what they wanted to study when they were older, or even what interested them. When I was about 11, I automatically knew forensic psychology was something I wanted to pursue. As I got older, I realized that not everyone had it as easy as I did, but I had found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, just like that.
My parents always told me how much they wanted me to be a pilot or a veterinarian; anything but studying forensic psychology. My dad was always against it simply because he loved the idea of me flying us around the world when I became a pilot and got my pilot licenses. My mom, on the other hand, began to be interested in psychology as she got older; she often thinks about how the mind is so complicated; that sometimes you need to have an outside perspective to help others understand what would be the reality of a situation that they simply are not able to understand by themselves.
Although she found psychology interesting, she had a very different opinion on forensic. We both knew that studying forensic didn’t interest her in the same way it did for me. She believed that once people get to that state where they had already lost themselves, it’s too late. I do understand where she’s coming from, but I want to pursue that career to also prove her wrong. People can change; people can get better.
To be honest, I’ve always been such a “why” type of person too, even when I was a little girl, I was so fascinated by why people thought or acted the way they did; what triggered them to do the things they did. It’s so interesting how the mind works and reacts. I’m really big on believing people can change, whether that is for the better or for the worse.
When I was 12, I had already been looking for different colleges who offered really good forensic classes or programs. I plan to major in psychology, minor in forensic psychology, and take classes that follow criminology. A lot of people tend to mix up forensic with criminology, although they both involve understanding crimes and criminal behaviors behind them. Forensic scientists concentrate on criminal investigations and involve themselves in direct interactions with the legal system to address various psychological aspects of legal cases, while criminology primarily deals with understanding criminal behavior to aid law enforcement.
Over the years, I’ve learned more and more about forensics, and it just makes me more fascinated. I don’t think I’ve been so sure of anything the way I am about forensic psychology. I’ve talked to sophomores and juniors in college, and they’ve told me about their personal experiences with the programs they are in and what they do. I try to be involved as much as I can to make sure I know exactly what I’m doing for my future. I want to continue to expand my knowledge for forensics and have connections with people who have their own experience and stories.
I’ve been thinking about working with our school to open a National Honors Society for Psychology at our school. Many colleges such as Arizona State University, Boston University, Brown College and more, already have clubs involving psychology. I want to help people who have such interest in psychology; who tend to struggle with figuring out how to get involved. Creating a club like that in high school will help those just like me; finding speakers and programs to start once coming close to starting college; it would be a great way to expand our knowledge about psychology and involvement with colleges at a young age.
