Conscious of myself as a young Mexican woman, I also think of myself as a global citizen, thriving most of all on multilingual and multicultural communication. Now twenty-two, I have learned the profound value of being a good communicator, practiced, precise, kind, a good listener, and a team player.
My first choice for graduate study is at the University XXX in their Clinical Psychology Ph.D. program because I am seeking a world-class doctorate in Clinical Psychology that will optimally prepare me for a long and distinguished career in forensics, or a related avenue of research and development. Above all, it is the criminal mind that draws me to psychology. Gearing up for Law School, your program would provide the optimal intellectual platform for that aspiration as well. I am convinced that the area of criminology is especially well understood within the cognitive/-behavioral tradition and that psychology is fundamental to the development of just laws for the socially deviant, laws that can address our complex criminal realities in increasingly efficacious ways.
I am especially looking forward to doing graduate work in the mental health of our at-risk populations, adolescent and adult, incarcerated youth, especially at-risk populations, and the long-term effects of childhood victimization. The bulk of my research so far has been on adolescent females in juvenile hall, yet I very much look forward to a lifetime of professional research concerning underserved or at-risk populations of all age groups. After completing my Ph.D., I plan to explore a career in criminology in addition to going into private practice. My ideal job would be a Psychological Profiler for either the FBI or with a police department. I hope to work in a proactive mode, protecting potential victims from would-be perpetrators. Raised in a bi-lingual family, I have always tilted to the English and recovering or discovering my capacity to be elegant in Spanish has been difficult. Yet, I fully intend to continue to uncover and elaborate the Spanish-speaking part of my identity.
I am sensitive to the need to improve in my Spanish, especially writing. So, I have taken to Spanish poetry as therapy and traveled to Mexico to work in orphanages, helping to build homes and spending a long time in a retirement center with elderly residents. Always placing a heavy value on cross-cultural diversity, in LA I volunteered for an organization that helped immigrants from Africa get adjusted to America; and spent a year as a religious studies assistant teacher at my church where I worked directly with children and adolescents from 10-15. I have spent most of the last two years doing research that included going into the Santa Clara detention center and interviewing incarcerated girls.
I am extremely hardworking and passionate. Although my GRE scores are not strong, except for the analytical section, I have proven my ability as a student by graduating with honors in both of my majors, even taking as much as twenty-four units a quarter. Often the head of my team for group assignments, I always struggled to make our team as diligent and productive as possible.
PHD Clinical Psychology Personal Statement of Purpose