Graduate School Admission Essay

While doing my undergraduate studies in Psychology I got the opportunity to meet many great professors that helped me to become the graduate student I am today. During my first year in The

University of Puerto Rico I took an advanced literature course with a brilliant professor that could analyze any story in a manner that was not only understandable but also interesting. I was mesmerized, but not by her knowledge but by the teaching methodology she employed to project that knowledge. I ended up taking three more courses with her that led to the development of a great friendship that I cherish to this day. Throughout my undergraduate years I had the privilege of meeting several professors just like her that influenced my personal and professional

At first I was intimidated by my past experience with great professors, specifically because of my age. I began graduate school at age 20 and I was worried that I would not be able to get my teaching philosophy across because the students would see me as a fellow undergraduate. I was also worried about how to portray an authority image while also being my funny and quirky self. I started to think about the type of instructor I wanted to be and the type of guidance I wanted to provide within the lab I was assigned to. Fortunately, the Learning and Behavior lab is designed to be interactive and interesting, which gave me the opportunity to be flexible and “test the waters” on what worked for me and what did not. From the beginning I got to work with other graduate students who were also starting their first year in the program. This was beneficial because I got the opportunity to learn from my own successes and failures while also learning from theirs. Dr. Hugh Riley, who created and teaches the course, gave us almost complete control of our eight sections (each