MJP - ch.'s 4 & 5

chapter 4 was a resume detailed to a specific audience, so i'll leave it out of this. I don't feel the need to post my resume on my blog. at least not yet. so, here's chapter 5. (btw there will be only 7, total.)

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My Journey in Psychology, Ch. 5

Logan Brown

Utah State University

My Life is full of backup plans. Back in my freshman year, I planned on going to graduate school. I researched various behavioral programs at the masters and doctorate level, and dreaming of doing clinical work for soldiers with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. That was backed up with working in marriage and family therapy, also with soldiers. I told my brother that I wanted to do this – that I hoped to join the military for a 2 or 3 year tour, then come back and finish my undergrad, a doctoral degree, and then work with soldiers because they’d be able to trust me. I got an earful. He went off on me for hoping to get school paid for by the military, and then just leaving. He told me he’d be highly disappointed, because he viewed it as a disservice to the career men who worked hard. He told me I had no idea what I would be getting myself into. Truth be told, I didn’t.

I was embarrassed, and decided to skip the idea of being a soldier; it hurt my dream of connecting with patients through a personal level. I decided to give it up and focus on working with PTSD instead. That didn’t seem to pan out either. My sophomore year was riddled with indecision and doubt; I took on a couple higher-level classes, and failed. I decided to fall back to working with kids, possibly not going to graduate school at all. Then I was required to take a new course – PSY 2950. It was exactly what I needed, but exactly what I did NOT want to hear. I was tired of being told to do by others. It didn’t sit well with me, and I decided to change direction before it was too late.

As you know, that was not the right choice. Now I’m back in the field, and in a research position that I had craved. I’m correcting my past wrongs, and trying to prove myself. But you already know that, too. My current goals don’t necessarily need a degree. I hadn’t even thought about graduate school until I talked to my advisor, Teresa, and learned how close I was to graduating; two semesters isn’t that long. Before I had even wrapped my mind around a diploma, Teresa began going over the most advantageous times to take the GRE, and when I’d be allowed to apply for graduate school because of graduating in the fall. All of my dreams about Florida State and northwestern came flooding back, along with the idea that I could carry a MP5 and still be called “Doctor.”

I still want to train Special Forces soldiers. However, now I want to take it further. If I don’t get in as a seal, I will work mercilessly to become a behavior analyst as soon as I complete officer training. Post-Traumatic stress disorder is only one side of the coin. It may sound a little silly, but after becoming a Doctor of Behavioral Psychology, I would want to train black-ops. The government doesn’t even officially recognize their existence. If you’ve never seen the
“Bourne” movie series or read the books, I’ll only warn you once: SPOILER ALERT. At the end of the last movie, Jason ends up in a training facility on the edge of town. This is where he, Michael Webb, shed his life to become Jason Bourne. He walked in, and met the same man that had trained him; a Dr. Albert Hirsch. Earlier in the movie they alluded to the training center with hushed voices, saying there had been some sort of behavior modification going on. Dr. Hirsch was the one who took Jason from soldier to… something more. He was referred to as an “Asset.” Well, I want to train these “Assets.” I don’t necessarily agree with the Doctor’s character, or the portrayed ethics. But, I do want that same job.

I know what you’re probably thinking – this guy is off his rocker. A job he saw in a movie? And a bad guy no less! But I still have ethics; I’m IRB certified, and my minor is Philosophy with an emphasis in ethics. In fact, I’ll be competing in an ethical discourse competition in less than 12 hours from when this paper is due. More to the point, how many positions could the FBI, CIA, or Military have to offer a Behavior analyst? You’d be surprised. But like I said before, my life is full of backup plans.

I have a chain of plans, each one to back up the last. Behavior analysis backs up actually being in the special forces, just as working in a clinical field backs up behavior analasys. I have a few options to choose from; PTSD counseling, marriage and family therapy, or divorce counseling all come to mind. I’ve even thought of getting multiple degrees after my bachelors; I could apply for law school, or get a PhD in philosophy. They’re all various things I can see myself enjoying. If nothing else, I hope to be a respected officer working to protect my family and the American people.

All of these options, save being a plain officer, requires going to grad school. After coming to the realization that it was a possibility, I decided to take a one of the quizzes in kuther’s book - “Is Graduate School for You?” I came out with seventy-two percent of my answers in favor of graduate school; aside from the academic ruberic, a seventy-two is a fairly good chance. I’d take it any day in Las Vegas… as many times as I could. So, I’d say that grad school would be a good fit. In fact, I have a few programs in mind.

Back in my freshman year when I was still bright eyed about the world, I would get home from my intro to behavior class with Carl Cheney and go through various programs. I would look for behavior modification programs specifically, and I found quite a few that I felt were a good fit. While pricey, Northwestern seemed to be second to none; however, I didn’t think I’d even get an interview. So I focused on others. I talked to professors at Arizona State University, and talked to them about how their research would relate to PTSD. They agreed that the work was similar, but if I wanted to work with that disorder specifically I’d want to check out Florida State. So I did.

I went through the Faculty page with all the skills I’d gained from “facebook stalking,” or what I prefer to call “social research.” I found some of the professor’s articles and tried to read through them. They were completely over my head, but I wouldn’t let that stop me. I dug up the professors’ email addresses, and wrote to a select few. I expressed my interest in their programs, but I can’t imagine they took me very seriously when I told them exactly how far I was through the program, and how much further I yet had to come before I would even possibly be writing them with an earnest possibility of attending their programs. I wish I could say that I kept in touch with at least one of these professors; but I didn’t. Normally I’d tell people otherwise, but I think you can handle the truth.

I’ll need some sort of PhD, or at the very least a master’s degree to get a job in all of my options. A PhD would be preferred in all of them, but if I want to get a MFT, I could end up staying at USU for their marriage and family therapy program, but I hope to expand my world and attend other universities. At Florida State I could earn an ABA degree (Applied) through their applied behavior analysis program, which would be my favorite choice.

Now, if I were to need to explore different career options with these degrees, I would have a few different options. First, assuming I’m still going into the military, I could talk to my friendly neighborhood recruiter. Because grad school is still far away for me, I can make do with researching programs online once in a while. Or better yet, I could ask the Professors in my undergrad degree. For a more diverse opinion, I could go to those in my perspective graduate degree, or hypothetically, the ones I will work with while in a graduate or doctoral program. All this talk is starting to make graduate school seem like an eventuality, so I need to be completely candid for a moment.

Graduate students often share specific skills; ones that are all but required to succeed in their program. These are one and the same with the skills that USU’s undergraduate psychology program is trying to instill in its students: Knowledge Base, Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills, Reading/Writing Skills, Information Gathering & Synthesis Skills, Research Methods & Statistical Skills, Computer Literacy, Interpersonal and Intrapersonal skills, and Adaptability. Like I’ve said before, I feel like I have most of these. It may be my time crunch (I’ve only 17 minutes now), but I think I am coming along well in each of these areas. I’ve assessed my weaknesses in previous chapters, and I’m making strides to correct these deficiencies. I’ve discussed them with specific professors and TAs, as well as the Counseling center in the Taggart Student Center here at USU. All in all, I feel like I’ve been preparing from day one to succeed, even though I tend to procrastinate just about everything else.

Bibliography

"Applied Behavior Analysis at Florida State University." Psychology at Florida State University. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.

"Utah State University Marriage and Family Therapy Program." Welcome to Utah State University. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2010.