One Down, ??? to Go

This semester in school I am taking Intro to Psychology. And let me tell you-as dorky as it sounds, I LOVE this class. It helps that I have some fun people in my class and that my teacher is absolutely WONDERFUL, but outside of all of that, I truly LOVE the material. We have covered the parts of the brain and their locations and functions, we've learned about major psychologists, the different areas of psychology and psychological fields that you can go into, we have deeply discussed the many psychological approaches(my favorites are behavioral and humanistic...I like to be an optimist okay?)neurons and the nervous system, and finally to the best unit ever--learning. We just started this unit today and I couldn't have been a happier girl from 12:50-2:20 pm.

Each day we receive a journal question. The point of these questions is to get your mind thinking and to introduce the new topic for the day. In order to receive full credit for the journal that day we have to write 5 complete sentences. (that doesn't seem like a lot, but write 5 sentences and you'll see that it's decently lengthy.) Most people in my class try to break their sentences up to get their 5, or just take partial credit while complaining that it's too long. I on the other hand adore these journals. I love being given an open-ended question in which I can ponder about, think about all its aspects, all the possibilities and choose what seems to sit right with ME. THERE IS NO WRONG OR RIGHT! It is beautiful. The journal question today was the following:
...Define the word "learning". What are some ways in which we learn?...
(Think of all the possible answers! Isn't it just exciting?! I think so!)
Today's journal for me filled 3/4 of a sheet of paper. Nothing was more thrilling to me than remembering back to Child Development and Early Childhood Education and applying what I learned and still remember into answering this question! Ask me a question about what I learned in say math or history like a month ago and I probably couldn't tell you. But ask me what I learned about in Child Dev or Child Ed, 6 months to a year ago, and I could tell you. That's because I LOVED learning it! I'm interested in it, I see how acquiring that knowledge can, will and DOES help me in life! AH there is nothing better..pure bliss.

Just last week I was talking with a friend about life, primarily the future, and it hurt me to say that I could never be a psychologist. (that is what she wants to be-and she will be amazing!) The first few weeks of psychology I truly thought that I might want to become a psychologist. I mean look at how excited I get over it! However, I have thought a lot about it and realized that it would never work for me. If I were to become one-no questioning needed-it would be a Child Psychologist. (working with adults...yuck.) Well clearly I have a deep love for kids-I mean what I have really always wanted to do is become an Elementary Teacher! However there is a difference in these two professions. Granted, if I become a teacher I know that I will get very emotionally attached and definitely have some hard times, but it would be nothing like being a psychologist. When it comes to kids, they have direct access to my heart and to my emotions. Seeing my nephews upset about something, seeing them cry, I literally feel my heart breaking in two. I can mostly keep my emotions in check but not when it comes to adorable, innocent, sweet little kids. I know my limits and I know I wouldn't be able to handle dealing with upset kids on a daily basis.

So to wrap it up and make my title make sense, a child psychologist is one thing that I can (somewhat sadly) take of the list as a career option for me. The more I think, the more I feel like Elementary teaching is what I'm fit for. Hopefully I'm not wrong!