Posted: December 23rd, 2022

Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example

Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example

example 1

From a very young age, I have always had the goal of attending a graduate program. While my major changed from Occupational Therapy to Psychology, my main goal has always been to obtain a graduate degree so that I can make a difference in the world, or at least just within my small hometown. My initial attraction to Walden University is the Mission statement and goal to implement social change in the world through both the university and its students. It is inspiring to be a part of something that others have the same values as myself and I can receive the assistance that I need in order to effectively implement social change. I really took away inspiration from viewing the meet the faculty videos and one thing that stood out to me was during Dr. Mona Hanania’s introduction; she stated that she thinks “…that we all go into this field for one fundamental reason, and simply put, it is to help others”Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example. This is and has been my main goal from a very young age. I grew up as the eldest and only girl in my family with the youngest sibling being born with down syndrome. I initially was very confused, scared, and upset that he was born with special needs but through growing with him and going with him to his therapies and classes, I was inspired and I knew that I wanted to make a change and be able to help others.

I currently work as a director at a company that provides services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and am often times put into situations in which I have to advocate for those who cannot do so for themselves. I want to be able to make a difference within my community and the lives of others. While I am able to do so at my current job, obtaining a graduate degree would allow me to expand my horizons and do more for my community. I have the hopes to eventually obtain my PsyD. in Clinical Psychology so that I am able to provide therapy and assist others with the development of treatment plans. Furthermore, I would like to improve upon the crisis services and other mental health services within my community. The vision statement: “Walden University envisions a distinctively different 21st-century learning community where knowledge is judged worthy to the degree that it can be applied by its graduates to the immediate solutions of critical societal challenges, thereby advancing the greater global good” (Walden University, n.d.), means a lot to me and my own personal goals in life. My ultimate goal through higher education is to enact social change in order to see improvement within the world around me and for future generations Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example. Through my personal experience within the workplace and education, there is a strong negative stigma about mental health and I have witnessed clients and others within my community suffer due to a lack in understanding of their situation and I want to be able to make a difference for everyone.

While I am eager to begin my educational journey and meet my long-time goals, I do have some reservations about beginning my MS of Applied Psychology program. I feel that my main hesitation would be my time management skills. Due to my hectic work schedule, I have put my education on the back-burner at times and I have definitely regretted it in the past. I am hoping to move forward from this and to manage my time wisely so that I am able to complete my degree and continue further with my education. I found the time management lesson from Walden to be very informative and enjoyed the additional reading provided below, specifically the articles relating to management of time and how to stay motivated. I feel that I often times begin a course feeling motivated and I develop a plan and write everything out and make lists but I become unmotivated and struggle to stay on task. I begin to feel overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start or what to do if I am at risk of getting behind on something Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example.

The article 6 Tips for Successfully Managing Your Time states that it can be beneficial to set realistic goals when beginning a project for class; I feel that I often get overwhelmed when beginning a paper or project which causes me to procrastinate and complete it all last minute (The Savvy Student, n.d.-a). If I am able to split a project up into pieces and work on it at a time, I will be able to attain my goals easier and with less stress. Furthermore, I need to cut back on my distractions. The fourth tip discusses how I can do this by setting up a quiet space and putting away any potential distractions such as the phone. I can then, in turn, reward myself afterwards by allocating time on my phone for after studying (The Savvy Student, n.d.-a). As for motivation, I often go in positively and am motivated but it often wears away as time goes on, the article 5 Tips for Getting (and Staying) Motivated, suggests tracking progress, being engaged with coursework, and making connections. I find that more often than not, if I am able to connect something that I am learning about to my life or work, I become excited and want to know more, the article suggests that connecting your coursework to the real world can make the student more motivated to complete the coursework instead of viewing it as “busy work” (The Savvy Student, n.d.-a). I feel that if I am able to follow these aforementioned suggestions, my overall educational goals will be a lot more attainable and more enjoyable along the way Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example.

References:

Walden University (Producer). (2020b). Meet the Faculty [Video File]

Walden University. (n.d.-a). Social Change. Retrieved from https://www.waldenu.edu/why-walden/social-change

Waldenacademicskills. (2020, October 2). 6 tips for successfully managing your time. The Savvy Student. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://waldenacademicskills.wordpress.com/2020/10/02/6-tips-for-successfully-managing-your-time/.

Waldenacademicskills. (2021, January 28). 5 tips for getting (and staying) motivated. The Savvy Student. Retrieved October 14, 2021, from https://waldenacademicskills.wordpress.com/2018/04/19/tips-for-getting-and-staying-motivated/.Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example

example 2

My decision to obtain my education through Walden University was a long, arduous process.  When I began entertaining the possibility of graduate programs, I weighed my options carefully with close attention paid to my two largest obstacles, time and money.  While attending a conventional program might have ended up costing me less money in the long run, living in a small town in central Ohio would have meant a long commute to school, meaning more time needed on campus and less time that I could devote to my family, home and job.  I chose to seek an online education instead because of my time limitations.  I specifically chose Walden because of the enthusiasm of the staff, their willingness to answer any and all questions asked, and especially due to the fact that a former professor and woman I consider my educational mentor is an alumnus of this school Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example.

In reading over this University’s Mission and Vision statements and commitment to positive social change, I can’t help but feel more positive and more excited about my choice of obtaining my education through this university.  The Vision Statement states that the vision of this university is to equip students to apply knowledge to improve societal challenges for the greater good, which is, indeed, my own vision for myself (Laurete Education, 2012c).  It is my hope that, through my research, our society can gain a better understanding of itself and perhaps, some ideas of how to help improve itself.  It is also my hope to pass on my passion for learning and for understanding why we humans do the things we do to others through teaching.  The mission of this University contained within the Mission Statement repeats those core values to effect positive social change, a mission I share.  The “Social Change” page also mirrors this thought and it excites me to know that I am a part of a University with such a strong commitment to positive social change, one that shares my deepest core beliefs and values (Walden University, n.d-p). Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example

Within the goals list of the Mission, Vision and Goals Statement (Walden University, 2013), I was pleased to see that this University appreciates the professional and life skills of its students.  I was also very pleased to see this University’s encouragement of critical thinking and research.  In my opinion, one of the largest challenges facing our society today is the seeming loss of critical thinking skills.  I grew up in an era without computers.  In my academic career, I have become increasingly alarmed at the apparent lack of communication skills of the younger generations.  It is almost as though a lot of these younger people who grew up with computers allow the computer to do their thinking for them.  I feel that strong skepticism is a quality that should be taught to people from a very early age.  We should all know how to question ourselves, the information that we receive, and the world around us critically, always searching for truth among the spin of the internet and the information that can be obtained on it.

Walden University. (n.d.-p). Social change. Retrieved January 17, 2014, from http://www.waldenu.edu/about/social-change

Laureate Education (Producer). (2012c). Welcome to Walden [Video file]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu

Walden University. (2013). Walden’s vision, mission, goals, and values. In 2013–2014 Walden University student handbook Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies Essay example. Retrieved from http://catalog.waldenu.edu/content.php?catoid=90&navoid=20820

Discussion: Hopes, Challenges, and Strategies

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