Final Thoughts

It is a relief to know that the school year is ending, but it's also a little scary because now I am getting one step closer to college applications and shortlisting majors. While the year has seemed to pass by slowly and quickly at the same time, writing this blog has remained constant. Though it was created for an English assignment, it has not only introduced me to the blogging world, but also led me to conduct research for possible careers. I haven't quite reached a final decision but I have developed an open view and perspective. Reading how passionate and motivated other people are for their careers and hobbies has encouraged me to prioritize and achieve my goals as well. At this point I am contemplating between a career in psychology versus a career in law enforcement/criminal investigation. These careers do have some common roots so I feel that if I choose psychology as a major I would still be able to enter  law enforcement at a later time in my life. People are usually surprised to hear that I would be interested in a career in law enforcement and criminal investigation because it doesn't go with my personality or think that I wouldn't advance much due to my petite size, or even because I'm a girl and it is commonly known to be a job for men. Every person is faced with some sort of setbacks in life, setbacks that come in the way of their daily routines, their wills, wishes, wants, desires, and even dreams. Many people around the world are not given the opportunity to choose their own field of work or have the opportunity itself to receive a substantial education. But people like me who are blessed enough to have both those opportunities should not let it go to waste based on what others may think. At the end of the day, I'm the one that is going to live with whatever career I choose, and I know for a fact that I don't want to have any regrets. I've come to realize that I owe it to myself to experiment with my careers to the full possible potential until I can determine which I prefer. Which is why I'm really looking forward to taking AP Psychology next year. I'm hoping that it will introduce me to the basics and it would be a good reference for selecting that as a major in college. It's going to be tough to choose what I want for myself as a lifelong career but hopefully speaking to others in the same professions and more research will bring me closer.

What the future holds

The intent of this blog was to focus on areas of interest for career opportunities and while I have some ideas of what I want to do, I am still as confused and unsure as I was when I started. Reading other people's blogs inspires me to be passionate about certain things and have some sense of direction, but when I ask myself what I want to do in my life, I am encountered with a question mark. Some people have known exactly what they want to do since they were little and know exactly where they are going in the future, others have developed interests over the years and have some plans for their future, and then there are some people like me, who either have no idea what they want to do or have some ideas but aren't sure if those ideas would be a good fit for them . It is hard to choose a specific career field when I have barely seen the real world, I'm only a junior in high school. I fear that what I may want now, I may not won't later in life. Yes in college, I would be allowed to change my major, but what if I am still unsure of what I want in college. It would be really helpful if I could do an internship at some psychology clinic, or be an intern at a local police department and see what the homicide department does on a daily basis or see how psychologists deal with their clients. I've always had a certain vision for the future where I have a stable job, and I am involved with additional activities on the side that relate to my hobbies, like writing and playing tennis. I hope that by the end of next year, my senior year, I have a more definite answer when I ask myself what I want to do with my life.

Forensic Psychology

In addition to the information I found out about forensic psychology in my last post, I found out a few more things about the job. There are many career paths in psychology  which I narrowed down to forensic psychology, but with some more research I learned that I could narrow down my career path even further.
Forensic psychologists can choose to go into Clinical forensics, which is the most common sub field because it basically involves studying the mental processes and behavior of criminal's minds to determine the reasoning for their actions. Psychologists create a case study to determine the reasons, and they do this by observing and studying the history of the criminal.
Another sub field similar to this one is called Forensic Research Psychology. These psychologists focus on developing new methods of interrogating criminals and new ways to assess criminals and eyewitnesses. Of course there methods and assessments constantly improve and keep changing. These researches also make policies related to juveniles and the elderly.
The sub field I'm leaning towards is called Investigative Forensic Psychology. This is where psychologists focus on assisting with investigative procedures and analyzing mental processes of suspects, witnesses, and criminals. They are even involved with criminal profiling and psychological autopsies. This sub field interests me because the psychologists actually help assist the investigations and criminal investigation is my original career choice. This would be a good fit because it combines the investigative side of crime and includes the psychological aspects of crime.

Psychology

Like many others, psychology is another area of interest for me. Also, since I'm more inclined towards criminal investigation at this point, engineering and product designing are going on the back burner. Psychology is the scientific study of the human mind, its functions, and behavior. It is both an academic and applied field that studies how humans think,act, and feel. Psychology can be applied for mental health treatment, performance enhancement, economics, including other areas like health and daily life. I feel like psychology is a subject that I can do well in because it's something that I take personal interest in so it well help motivate me to do and learn to the best of my ability. I'm the kind of person that likes to know what goes on behind the scenes, why people do the things they do, why they take certain actions, what they are thinking, how their body language displays what is going on inside their head and just in general what their personality is like. Not only is psychology a good fit for my own personality but also for criminal investigation. Having a background in psychology would be beneficial because it would understand criminals and my coworkers better. It will help me determine patterns in behavior and predicting future crimes or incidents that may occur.

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Some areas of specialty in psychology careers include clinical psychology, or the treatment of mental illnesses, health psychology which promotes good health through health maintenance counseling programs, counseling psychology which provides therapeutic treatment to people with a wide variety of systems, forensic psychologists who deal with psychology and the law. There are also industrial-organizational psychologists who focus on workplace behavior to improve employee satisfaction in their work and their work abilities. The area of specialty that attracts me most is forensic psychology, as it is the closest to dealing with crime and law.
Forensic psychologists have a wide range of work, it may be relate to people in prison, rehabilitation centers, police departments, law firms, schools, government agencies, and they may also work privately. Psychologists focused more on law generally tend to work in colleges, universities, government agencies, criminology, the legal system,or in other systems which relate to researching and examining human behavior.
These psychologists often find themselves involved in custody disputes, lawsuits, and insurance claims. They could even work at family courts and perform custody evaluations and investigate reports of child abuse.
While salaries vary depending based on educational background, most entry-level positions with a doctorate degree range from about $60,000 to $70,000 per year. Furthermore, starting-level salaries of those who have bachelor's or master's degree most likely become psychological assistant/associate and their salaries range from $35,000 to $40,000 annually.
I feel like this would be a pretty good career option for me because I enjoy working with others in a team and I also like one on one interactions with people. Challenges and challenging problems are what keep me motivated and interested, so challenges are definitely a positive aspect in this case. If working in this field leads me to a satisfied customer then solving challenging problems by a great deal of time and effort are definitely worth it. Most of all, this would be a good career because it is a great combination of forensics, law, and psychology, which are all areas of interest for me so I know I would be passionate towards the job.