Scholarship Essay Entry – Adriana V.

My dream is to become a psychologist. Since I was a teenager I always felt the necessity to comprehend other’s motivations and reasons in behaving the way they do. Also, I consider this profession as an important tool to understand myself, because by knowing myself better I can deal with others’ problems. Besides, Psychology is a profession that improves the human quality of the community members by giving them a variety of choices they can adopt in order to have a better life and orientation. That is why in a society like the Canadian one, so multicultural, the need of psychologists is very important because they can help newcomers to insert themselves in this new country, cope with their personal and adaptation problems as well as creating and ambience of tolerance between Canadians and people from all over the world.

Homesickness is a fatal factor that strikes most of the newcomers in Canada. The harsh winters along with loneliness are factors that contribute to depression. Many immigrants come by themselves with the hope to bring their families later on. Most of the time, they find themselves alone trying to look for orientation, so a psychologist could provide help in these cases. A psychologist who lived the same kind of experiences can be even more empathetic, because she or he came to a new country and faced the same problems in similar ways.

By guiding the clients and giving them directions about where to go and whom to see in order to solve problems, psychologists help newcomers to adapt and to become more confident in this new country. They feel they are being supported and oriented, so their “fitting in” process becomes easier. Psychologists can direct them to communities of different nationalities, where the client may feel “at home” and may receive personal experiences and testimonies from their partners that help them to endure the new context.

Canada is a very multicultural country and shows many signs of tolerance and respect for its newcomers. However, some immigrants may feel afraid of approaching Canadians because of the fear of rejection. Psychologist are in charge of changing this conception in newcomers’ minds and to show them that Canada is a huge international community where everyone is measured with the same ruler, which means that every person has the same rights. By facilitating multicultural encounters in the community with neighbours, children and friends, better relationships can be enhanced among them.

Psychology is a very useful profession since it helps human beings to become mentally healthier. I strongly want to pursue my goal of becoming a psychologist not only because of personal satisfaction but also because I will help to achieve the personal satisfaction of others. The work field in Psychology is very broad and its function diverse. I am especially interested in helping newcomers because one day I was one of them. I am more than willing to help them to adapt into their communities and to experience Canada as their new home.