The XXXX School of Professional Psychology at XXXX University is my first choice for earning the PsyD Degree in Clinical Psychology primarily because of the sheer quality of your program with such a diverse faculty experienced in numerous areas. I am currently a master's student in your program in Clinical Psychology and I have grown very fond of the XXXX Program and academic community and would very much like to continue my studies at the doctoral level.
I was diagnosed with a chronic heart condition as a child which made my childhood quite traumatic. Had it not been for the constant support and love of my parents, I would not have survived. My own childhood trauma goes a long way towards explaining why I chose Psychology as my professional field. My suffering was not just a physical condition. My siblings were all brilliant and athletic, super grades, winning awards, while I was branded “the sickly one” so everyone understood and accepted my underperformance. I had few friends. While I was born in the USA not long after my parents arrived from Mexico, my older siblings learned English faster than I did. Nevertheless, my own personal triumph in life will be helping others in similar situations to realize their full potential despite the challenges they face. I think of the thousands of bewildered children, many of them ill, who enter the USA each year crossing the border with Mexico, some alone, others with parents or other relatives.
Childhood trauma has many sources and for sick immigrant children like me the psychological hurdles that are often faced are the result of a range of factors. In my case, the financial instability of immigrants who had just recently crossed the border and were struggling to survive economically or even adequately feed their children. I did not understand the nature of my health problem, but I remember the sound of my mom crying as if it were yesterday. At least I could never be sure that she was crying because of my heart condition, or the child that she left buried in Mexico, who died in her arms at the age of 6. I always had a sense growing up that we fled a dangerous and unstable place, especially because I listened at length to my father’s stories of fleeing his home in Mexico after witnessing his father shot dead in a brawl over land in a small village. Shortly after receiving medical attention for the first time for my heart, my older sister was diagnosed with polio. Stress, fear, and anxiety radiated throughout my childhood, a time that should ideally be free of these debilitating factors. My treatment consisted of a device, prescribed medications, and long trips to endless medical visits. I wore a massive heart monitor, painful to take off and put back on. Later, however, I would develop a sense of self-worth because of being “a helper,” helping to get legal residency for my mother and my older siblings.
I sat on the bench during recess with a broken heart, holding my monitor in my hand throughout my early school years, doing nothing and merely watching classmates play and have fun. I needed support to make sense of my life experience; and I was most pleased that teachers and counselors did take an interest in me. This was my only salvation, and I will always be most grateful for the emotional support that I received from professionals. It took tremendous effort for many years for me to develop a healthy sense of dignity and the ability to achieve wonderful things; and it will all be worth it if I am to have the privilege of helping individuals with mental health needs in similar situations, for the rest of my professional lifetime.
My parents always taught me that our unique experiences of pain, struggle, and triumph are always worth the sacrifice and that happiness is always a result of heroic effort. Overcoming my own weaknesses and unfortunate circumstances has allowed me to discover and cultivate my greatest strengths, my compassionate heart and perseverance; I never give up.
My goal for continuing graduate school has less weight or emphasis on a lucrative and/or prestigious career. For me, however, money and the many things that it can buy mean little. I hope to earn a doctoral degree in my field as part of my quest for meaning and fulfillment in life, attaining the kind of sheer joy and inner peace that I now know derives from helping others to enrich their lives and find happiness. For me, going to graduate school is about many things, a sort of triumph for my family (la familia), extended family, and community as well as myself – in addition to preparing myself to make my maximum contribution to my profession.
A Latina in a new and scary land who, in time, learned how to become whole, I am fortunate to have the opportunity to give as much as I can back to the world. I feel that ISPP would be the best place for me to get the finest education available and develop the hands-on skills to fulfill my dreams of becoming a talented clinical psychologist and leave my mark on the world as a healer. I would like to continue to work with underserved populations and give my best to those who are in the greatest need. I take special delight in the fact that many of the underserved who are ill and in desperate need of our support, speak my first language, enabling me to build an immediate rapport. Although my last name and light olive skin with freckles tend to hide my identity, I am a Mexican woman much like my mother. My mother and father remain an important inspiration in my life, along with my daughter. I have become an expert at the balance of school, professional responsibilities, and my family life. I have been fortunate to be blessed not only with a beautiful, healthy daughter, but also my best friend and significant other of five years, he is also concerned about social issues and fascinated by my psychological explanations of the injustice and suffering that we see in our community. He fully supports my dedication 24/7 to my studies; and my daughter adores him.
I thank you sincerely for considering me for your PsyD Program at XXXX
Latina Sample Personal Purpose Statement for the PsyD