Barron's affect on my life by Zaid

Barron's affect on my life by Zaid - October 2023 Scholarship Essay

Hallow voices echoed in my room and the silhouette of someone lurked around in my peripheral. In a sleep-deprived state, I remember frequently searching every corner of my house for a haunting intruder that I swore I heard or saw. Only to find out the intruder was my own imagination and the one who let him in was my lack of sleep. Reading Barron’s AP Psychology textbook taught me that a lack of sleep can cause the emotional side of your brain to take control and overpower your brains analytical side. Causing weird mood regulations and making my brain think irrationally to believe there was a creature inside my house. Although the psychology textbook didn't just teach me that the monsters in my closet aren't real, it also taught me many other things that help me in my everyday life.
The textbook showed me the heavy importance of REM sleep which is essential for the cortex of your brain. The cortex being responsible for learning, memory, reasoning, and problem solving which are all processes I need to do well in school. It is because of the textbook that I began prioritizing my sleep which has allowed me to have better social, academic, and daily experiences. Learning how to think critically and rationally is also a way the textbook has impacted my life. It taught me how to think before I act and analyze situations based on rational thinking instead of emotional impulses. My connection with my mother has also been drastically improved with the textbook. My mom has gone through so much her whole life from being a first generation immigrant to still experiencing the troubles of life alone. I never understood her mood changes or her sudden outbursts or why she didnt seem to care about me at certain times but the psychology textbook allowed me to see past her tough exterior and into her inner state. I would have never dared to talk to my mom about her past and how she feels emotionally if it wasnt for the textbook. My relationship with my mom would most likely have still been like a field of land mines if I had never read it. That textbook has changed my life for the better and continues to help me through my everyday life. It is because of Barron’s AP Pyschology textbook that I can now sleep peacefully at night.