I am currently a 2nd semester sophomore at St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. I am pursing a degree in Psychology with a minor in Spanish. I take anywhere from 13- 16 hours of class per semester. I have a work-study position at my school’s information desk where I am responsible for the book keeping and processing the reservations for anyone who wishes to reserve conference rooms on campus. I began working here freshman year and quickly got promoted twice which led me to my current position as a student manager. I typically work 15 hours per week on a Monday-Friday basis.
I am part of the National Society of Leadership & Success (Sigma Alpha Pi). This is a non-Greek organization that promotes leadership skills and action plan creation in order to achieve goals (small or large). I am not only a member but also an officer who plans out where our events will take place. We watch renowned speakers on live broadcast whom we can text message questions to. We learn about financial responsibility, time management, the power of influence and many more topics not discussed in college classes. We are held accountable for the goals we set and we achieve them. The goal I created last spring was to obtain my drivers license and buy a car. In the summer of 2010 I was licensed and driving a bright blue Honda Civic. I truly owe part of this success to this organization. Look for a chapter your campus. (http://www.societyleadership.org/ )
My university’s liberal art program allows me to take either core or classes in my major at any time that I choose to do so, where at other schools you must take many pre requisites that you aren’t even interested in. I have requirements in the English, Math, Science, Social Studies arena, but I get to choose which classes I fill those with. For example I don’t want to take any government, econ, or history classes, so I am filling my social science requirement with Criminal Justice, Sociology and Business.
The best part: my largest class had 25 students in it. This made it easy to ask questions, see the professor for office hours and to get to know classmates for both friendship and networking purposes. I am currently taking a class that teaches about what careers in psychology exist and the requirements to obtain a career in that field.
I plan on going to graduate school after I graduate from St. Mary’s in the spring of 2013. I will work towards a PhD in Industrial/ Organizational psychology. Industrial/Organizational Psychology deals with the relationships of the employees in a company, the improvement of future job candidate selection, creating programs and activities that to enhance the company and research. I am looking to obtain a career in this area of psychology and in the future look into becoming a college professor where I can do research and make discoveries all while sharing my knowledge with students.
I don’t have a set idea on which city or state I will go on to graduate school in, but I’m sure that with an open mind & continued support from my parents will lead me in a perfect Graduate school fit, just as I found St. Mary’s. This university provides thousands of opportunities for advancement, has a tight knit community feel to it, job fairs, research symposiums and more than I can ever say.
So when picking your future university asks yourself many times if the person you are will fit in well in the setting you will choose. Please, consider private schools as an option because they are smaller in size and have abundance in financial aid which could cost less than attending a public school. When you need a recommendation letter for a job or graduate school it will be more likely that your professor knows you better and has more to say about you, than if you attend a large public school where he or she might know your name at most.
This semester I am going to become more involved in psychology courses, new organizations and begin research.
Wendy Espinoza
Pinole Valley High School
Class of 2009
St. Mary's University
Class of 2013
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