A Train Not Derailed by Kennedy

A Train Not Derailed by Kennedy - July 2023 Scholarship Essay

As someone who has always taken their academics seriously, received honors, and other academic achievements, I was extremely taken aback when I failed a course for the first time during my first semester of college. Going into college as a forensic science major, I was bound to have many science-related courses on my major track, and although science was never my strong suit, I would always be able to remedy my struggles in academia and still excel. So when I failed chemistry after exhausting all of my resources throughout the semester, I felt extremely defeated for a while. But I did not let this failure completely derail my goals for academic and professional success, this failure simply served as a railroad switch. It made me realize that while I was interested in forensics, I wasn’t too passionate about science, and my experience made me realize that I truly did not want to spend the rest of my life in a lab. So I took time to look inside myself and think about what I wanted to do going forward. I thought of a way to still be able to pursue forensics with a slightly less science-focused track, so I decided to change my major to psychology.
I have been interested in the field of psychology since high school and it was even the degree I was interested in pursuing initially. But as my career aspirations changed, so did my desired field of study.
However, changing my major to psychology after my first semester of college thankfully still aligned with my career aspirations. I also figured that changing my major to psychology would allow for more wiggle room if by chance my professional goals were to change again, since the field of psychology is extremely broad.
Today, I am very happy with the choice I made to change my major to psychology, as I’ve decided to pursue a new career under the psychology umbrella. I currently aspire to be a pediatric neuropsychologist, I aim to understand the mind and the way people interact with the world around them, which starts with childhood. Often children who are neurodivergent go undiagnosed and unaided, as symptoms can appear differently in different demographics, especially in girls and people of color. As I have entered adulthood, I have encountered many people who that has been the case for. So as a Black woman, I believe that my presence in the field will greatly contribute to aiding children of all backgrounds to receive the assistance that they require and support them in understanding how best to navigate the world as an individual. Without my experience during my first semester of college, I do not think that I would have changed my major to psychology and found a career that I feel deeply passionate about.