Psychology

This project is created to reflect on the knowledge and skills acquired during the course. This course was as interesting as it was also difficult. In many aspects, it created a real challenge. However, I have learned that time management and effective goal setting will govern my choices and will support me on my way to career goals and achievements.

What I Have Learned in College Success Strategies
Introduction
My name is Anita Dumas and I am 38 years old. I am majoring in psychology and I am writing this paper to describe who I am, what I have learned during the course, what I am going to do, and how I am going to use the knowledge I was able to acquire in the process of learning. I should say that since the early years of my life I have been increasingly interested in and fascinated by the human mind. My practical, professional, and life experience became the three key elements that led me to study psychology. I believe that the current course and college success strategies have significantly contributed to my understanding of career and personal development, and from now on, I will be much better at planning, managing, and controlling my own career.

Learning style and interests
I should say that in my learning style I primarily rely on reading and hands. I often find these things critical for the learning process, but I should also admit that my current interest in psychology has to do with my fascination of the human mind. Since the early years of my life I have been extremely interested in everything that is associated with human behaviors, reactions, and thinking. I have been in the medical field since 18 and this knowledge and experience significantly facilitated the process of integrating with the new course and with the new knowledge. Although generally I am not a very outgoing person and I do not think I ever will be, I believe that the discussed course and the knowledge of psychology in general will assist me in my striving to manage and govern my career paths. Unfortunately, very often, personal management and the choice and development of career paths are the primary obligation of HR professionals  Bohlander and Snell (2009) write that there are numerous ways for an employer to contribute to an individual employees career development and at the same time meet the organizations HR needs (p. 241), but this course gave me a unique opportunity to engage in personal management of my career choices and directions. Now I have capabilities and knowledge necessary to make such management effective.

Goal setting and career paths
I have found out that being a college student and coming back to studies is quite a struggle, because things have changed dramatically since I first finished college in 1994. Technology is different. I have a lot more information at my fingertips. However, it was always among my major strengths not to give up even when the class is difficult and challenging. This class was a real difficulty too, and I had to struggle with it, but I know deep inside that I will never give up even if this class gets to be a pain sometimes. I guess that this is a form of intrinsic motivation I have toward everything I do and probably, not giving up is one of my major professional goals in life. This class helped me understand that goals and effective goal setting are the major elements of a successful career. I cannot but agree to Wilson and Brookfield (2009) in that intrinsic goals focus on community contribution, self-development and self-acceptance, affiliation, and physical health (p. 90). That means that intrinsic motivation and goal setting are primarily aimed to satisfy the basic individual needs. Wilson and Brookfield (2009) also say that competence, relatedness, and autonomy are the three key needs which are readily satisfied through goal setting and intrinsic motivation. My own intrinsic motivation has been naturally high. I intend to keep it this way and to reinforce its positive influence on my life. That is why my career choices and the principles of personal management that I use in professional fields will strengthen my own autonomy and will promote my self-development and the sense of community contribution.

Psychology, forensics, and professional career
The field that interests me the most is forensic psychology, and there is a serious reason for this. A few years ago my cousin was murdered by her boyfriend. Now this man has a new girl friend and I always wondered what makes and what drives individuals, especially women, when they fall in love with murderers. I always wondered they can do anything to stop this feeling. It is also interesting what makes a person turn into a killer. I realize that the environment I am going to work in will be hostile, because prison and psychology wards usually are. However, I know that to realize my career strivings I will have to prepare myself to difficulties, and receiving a Master degree is probably the very first step in my career path, which is referred to as the sequence of work positions and roles that a person holds over the span of a lifetime (Carter, Cook  Dorsey 2009, p. 2).

Some of the things I will face are the time and money that are needed to make my career real. Time and money create a big challenge to anyone. I also feel that the field I choose to realize myself in will be in high demand, but the success of my strivings largely depends on whether I am ready to learn and to regularly update my knowledge. The thing is that blue collar jobs are becoming fewer and more and more people are destined to go back to school to become qualified and to find a good place. However, I am strong enough to cope with these difficulties and to pursue my dreams.

As I have already said, goal management and goal setting are to become the first and the most important elements on my way to getting to where I am going. I believe that everything is in our hands and as long as we have a brain and can retain knowledge we can succeed in what we do. I understand that this will be a hard road and there is a lot of hard work in front of me. Unfortunately, time management is one of my major problems, especially in classes which I find difficult, but I also know that the new skills that I learn will accompany me and support me on my way to my career goals.

Conclusion
This project was created to reflect on what we have learned during the course and the steps, which we will take to get to our career goals. I have understood that my desire to update my knowledge will make my career extremely successful, because the quality of learning today determines the quality of career tomorrow. More people are becoming more educated and jobs that require extensive education and professional knowledge will certainly dominate in the coming decade.