Global Awareness- Global awareness holds a high importance in education because it helps to develop a student’s world view and concept of diversity. Problems that may be faced in the world outside of school often have to do with larger groups than just those within the school or even within the country. A teacher may have students that are from another country. An individual who is conducting any kind of research may have to work with another researcher across the globe. Global awareness allows for individuals to be better prepared for these interactions that they will have in their future careers. I plan to include global awareness into my curriculum by involving myself in a study abroad program. I intend to figure out a way to potentially study sociological aspects, cultures, and traditions of another population and use that to add to my knowledge of psychology around the world. This will not only make me more globally aware, but also allow me to bring back new ideas for psychology practices right here in my community.
Original Inquiry- Original inquiry is very important for anyone who plans to continue their education after their bachelor’s degree as well as those who do not. For further education, it prepares a student for the individual work that they will have to do to complete their degree and in general it increases the individual thought of a person. It allows for students to think about something rather than simply reciting which promotes a new way of learning. I plan to involve myself in original inquiry by taking up a research project in the coming years. I would enjoy researching a topic in psychology that I am interested in such as eating disorders or serotonin syndrome in relation to SSRI’s.
Academic Enrichment- Beyond the importance of learning tonged a degree, the classes a person takes allows for them to be better prepared for the work that they will be doing in the future. It also allows for a person to explore topics that they are interested in. For me, I plan to enrich myself by taking challenging and interesting classes in my major. I want to take advantage of the classes I have to take by filling them with as many options that fulfill the knowledge I seek to know such as childhood psychology, the direction I wish to take my major. I also want to explore adding a minor in American Sign Language because it is a topic that interests me and it will be something that is useful in my future.
Leadership Development- By developing leadership, a person is given the opportunity to learn how to be in charge and interact with people from that position. It is one thing to be a boss and another thing to be a leader. By trying out leadership positions in school, a student is able to practice the important skills necessary to become one in the workforce. I plan to develop my leadership skills by involving myself in extracurricular activities that I can see myself effectively leading in the future. I want to learn the proper ways to lead these activities and then take a chance by running for a position. In the classroom I plan to be a leader by helping out my partners when they may be stuck and taking charge in my own workload.
Service Engagement- Service is important because it allows students to get involved in giving back and working with those in need. It allows for people to view the world more selflessly than they might otherwise and it benefits individuals other than themselves. For service I plan to engage myself in one time projects around the campus such as donating blood when my dorm is having drives and participating in small projects around the community. I would also like to involve myself with larger projects such as volunteering at an animal shelter or joining organizations such as Buck-I-SERV.
