Forensic Psychology: Personal Statement

During the entirety of my educational career, starting in elementary school, it was repeated to me that going to college increases your earning potential. With this in mind I was certainly going to attend college but I never really thought about it as a way to increase my knowledge and skill in a field I was interested in. Unfortunately, my family wasn’t exactly supportive. I am the first person in my family to attend college and have had to be financially self-supporting due to my family’s financial background. I moved to South Dakota from Florida to begin my new adventure. My only emotional support came from my grandmother who passed away just three weeks before I began my first semester. This took a toll on me that required quite a bit of time to recover from. My grades suffered greatly as I struggled to overcome the loss of my closest family member while facing new challenges college and South Dakota presented. Despite this I continued on the path I had chosen and kept pursuing my education. I began my studies in business administration then realized I’m not very skilled in accounting which was a required class. I decided if I was going to invest the amount of time and money I was into college, I should do it for something I’m interested and skilled in and not for the paycheck. I then switched to a psychology …show more content…
In the field of forensic psychology I could serve as an expert witness to explain how someone’s psychology affected their behavior or I could help the court determine the competency or sanity of someone. In academia, courses at the University of South Dakota focusing on the intricacies of psychology and law are limited to only a few. Using my knowledge after an advanced degree I would be excited about helping other students on their path to careers in the field by expanding course options at their