[Recipient][Title]
[Company][Address 1][Address 2][Address 3]
Dear (Put entity or specific recipient here),
As any mother would attest, the most dramatic event of my life was the birth of my daughter. Through my daughter’s new life I saw the world of children, and realized that not all newborns were born into stable situations. My love for my daughter was extended to all children. I wanted the same opportunities and stability I wanted for her for everyone.
Something that I have always found interesting about studying psychology is that behind every idea there is a person, and behind every person there is a life. Because of my own draw to the discipline, I look for similarities between me and the psychologist’s whose ideas I have spent much of my adult life and career studying and whose methods I have employed in numerous endeavors. Whatever it was that led them to their path of study is, I imagine, the same drive that compels me to study it.
In Russia there is a law that has the unfortunate side effect that some kids stay parentless in hospitals for years. In the time I spent exploring these dynamics, I realized that it was the situational psychology of the system that was allowing such unfortunate circumstances. Part of my career I spent volunteering at an H.I.V. crisis line in non-profit orphans fund. This experience was moving in many ways. It allowed me to directly intervene with people who needed someone to prevent their thinking from leading them to harm. I was able to see how I could directly impact people’s lives, and found myself profoundly humbled by the experience. To succeed in this endeavor, I had to be able to think about what the other person on the line was thinking.
Thinking about thinking, one definition of psychology is something I have done my entire life. I have always had an interest and concern with what was going on in other people’s mind in addition to constantly studying my own. In high school, I learned to give a name so that something I was engaging in without thinking about it: psychology. Since having a term to call it, psychology has been something that has always been a source of fascination for me. Likely, this stems from my love of other people, wondering what makes them tick, because I have an innate desire to help others when I am presented the opportunity. People’s difference, as well as similarities such as how we form memories and what motivates find a captive audience in me.
I want to be able to be impactful in people’s lives that would allow me to maximize the application of my goodwill towards them. I grew up in Moscow, Russia which is a fascinating place to learn about psychology and to see it in practice. The entire culture in recent history lived through a period of extreme cognitive dissonance. People in Russia were forced to live double life that stems from the fact that under Soviet Russia people had to maintain a separate person from the ones that they were able to be around close friends and families.
My resume is dotted with over a decade of experience in both psychology and working in positions that required me to work closely with people. From 2001-2003 I worked as a human resource auditor analyzing and evaluating the HR policies to make sure that they fit with the strategy of the company and that we maximized our human capital. These questions that needed to be asked in this position were question of applied psychology. It was the management of a system of human society in which every policy and decision would have a direct effect on people or individuals. An understanding not just of the people involved, but of human nature in general, were required to fulfill the job description.
In another company, Passware LLC, I worked in a more hands on role in human resources as a human resource manager. My responsibilities included development and management of employment programs, salary compensations and job evaluations, benefits, promotions, equal opportunity initiatives and educational and training programs.
In 2005 I received a specialized bachelor of science in Moscow State Gestalt University, to add to the masters in economics that I received from the Russian Academy of Economics in 1999. Between 2003-2005 I began putting into practice my love of psychology by working as a psychology consultant under supervision as a private practice. For me, seeing how these concepts were actually applied in a work place was what led me to my decision today to pursue a graduate degree in psychology. Seeing how patients respond to therapy, how it allows them to overcome obstacles that some of them have been facing their entire lives was profoundly moving.
In 2006 my family began living half time in the United States and halftime in Russia. I was unable to keep a stable job because of such a dislodging schedule, but my passion for psychology continued despite not being allowed to practice in the United States. My commitment to the discipline and the patients I had worked with allowed me to continue to work as a psychology consultant, which I would accomplish via Skype.
I have made my decision and am applying with The California School of Professional Psychology because in researching different programs, I was most attracted to a program that has so much success with graduates in internship programs and also one that draws a wide range of students from different countries each with a diverse background. While I have spent enough time in the United States to feel completely at home here, my international travels have taught me that people from other countries have a lot to teach.
I am excited to be where I am at right now: actively working to bring about the next stage of my passion for psychology. I am hard working, curious, diligent and eager to put this drive and passion into a program which will lead me to my dream of continuing to practice the subject that I love in a country that has become my home. I would love to be able to do that with your program and I think you sincerely for your consideration of my application.
Best Regards,
-Name
