Application Letter Example: Life Experience

There are some days that I can find myself sitting in contemplative cognition as I think about my past and how it affects the life I live today. What strengths have I gained and what resources have I found? I explore my memories with the underlining thought that there are quite a few ways that my background has influenced the strengths I carry in my educational career, such as my experience working as a Certified Peer Counselor. I have always known that I have a deep passionate curiosity about psychology, and its effect on emotional response; of which, often comes paired with the advancing mindfulness within the topic of mental health and wellness. I experienced an adverse childhood, disadvantageous at best, cripplingly disastrous at worst. I have been taught how to utilize those survived traumas in my career, in a way to look on with wonder with a new perspective and reach out to teach others about how a traumatic childhood can affect the future adult. Through sharing the traumas of my past with the purpose of stirring inspiration in others, I could use my ever-growing strength to bring hope to those with whom I tell the story of my lived experience. Being in a career with a trauma-informed focus on mental wellness has given me so many resources to utilize and learn from. I have been granted incredible strength through the great opportunities I have been given. I am thankful to be able to engage in further education through lessons, presentations, training, and firsthand experiences.

Some of the many resources that the career as a CPC has given allowed me the ability to explore psychology, social work, and behavioral science, in a cross-disciplinary fashion. Additionally, I learned to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to continue forward in situations without a clear path. I have learned to start every lesson with an open and curious mind, even if I think I already know everything useful about the topic. This has also helped me narrow my focus onto what exactly it is that I want to study, to learn, to debate, and to teach. The presentations and classes that I had the opportunity to experience have helped me discover what type of learner I am. I used to believe that I was a visual learner, but I have realized that it goes deeper than that; I learn best when I am able to write down on paper what I have studied.

Another way that my past has influenced the strengths that I bring as a student and helped identify and utilize the resources I can use to achieve my educational and career goals are the engulfing experiences of being a mother. One thing that I knew before I found my passion for psychology is that I have always wanted to be a mother. I view motherhood, and being a parent, as a lifelong career from which I will never retire. It is a job, a responsibility that I will hold until the day I die. It is through this career of motherhood that I have learned how to have patience, be understanding of others, have empathy for the misfortunes of others, and have hope for a better outcome after a long strenuous day. I also learned the opposite of those things, such as when there is no virtue in patience when it transitions to ever yielding tolerance to irrational and selfish behavior. I have learned that sometimes persevering and understanding is not copacetic with one’s lack of logic, when empathy and sympathy for someone’s ailments become needless empty gestures due to an absolute lack of trying, and when hope is a fallacy best released rather than grasping towards a false sense of reality. Through motherhood, I have learned every bit of this through trial, error, and perseverance; every day I make the conscious decision not to give up. Even if you are an amazingly perfect super mom, they will still have a tantrum on the floor in the middle of a grocery store, they will still fight bedtime and cry big old crocodile tears because you did not give them the correct color of cup that they wanted. It is important to know how to choose your battles.

Something that I learned when I dropped out of high school, that I utilize to this day, is that sometimes life gets difficult, painfully burdensome, and you can walk away, but you may regret that decision for years to come. I also know though, that those same regretful decisions, can turn out to be some of the best. I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason, because if I had graduated high school on time, I would not have had the life experiences that lead me to where I am today. I would not have become the mother I am now; I would not have become the strong, independent woman I now am. I feel if I did not live through the experiences I have, I would not have suffered through the psychologically abusive relationship that resulted in my wonderful youngest daughter. If I had not gone through that abuse, I would not understand how hard it is to leave an abusive relationship, or how easy it is for people who you believe to be your allies to be dissuaded from helping you by the predator that is your assailant. I would not have been led to the therapy that I desperately needed and have received, which means I would not have had the inspiration to set in stone my ambition of obtaining the degree and career that I know I am destined to accomplish.

My background gives me a cautious and decisive look on how to approach my studies, and a thoughtful understanding of how easily what seems like a small decision can have tremendous direct effects on my future. It also influences me and the strengths I have by continuing to fuel my determination and to push me forward towards my goals with ambition and confidence. It has shown me that there are resources available to me everywhere and though the task may be daunting, I must take that first step, and just keep stepping forward until have reached my goals.