Walden’s Outcomes and Your Goals (2014)

Part I

I’ve been at a crossroads lately on what I would like to do professionally. For the past 17 years, I have been in the IT field. I decided to abandon the field for a subject area that I have grown to develop a great love for. I have spent years accumulating experience and becoming a subject matter expert in all that I do. However, as I transition over to psychology, a lot of my personal interest do not include IT at all. Therefore, I have had to take things that are important to me and turn them into my areas of focus.

During my Bachelors course of study, I had developed several areas of interest that I would like to focus on. With a lot of what’s going on in the world, from the police shootings of African Americans to the profiling of Arab and Muslim Americans, I have taken interest in those areas. Likewise, due to my past history in certain religious groups and in one case cult, I have taken an interest in religion and spirituality. Much of what I am focused on is research and I plan on traversing the path of a research psychologist.

My education at Walden will help me to be able attain this goal by helping me to hone my skills in in qualitative and quantitative research. I will also learn how to perfect my research skills as I continue to write papers and research subject matter on my own. The university’s curriculum is geared towards developing scholars in their fields by prepping them with the skills they need today in order to compete in tomorrow’s marketplace.

Part II

Of the university outcomes that are relevant to me and that resonate the most with me, having a commitment to lifelong learning is one of the first that stands out. I have spent most of my life learning whether in school or out. Even at the age of 35, it was important enough to me to re-enroll in school in order to finish my degree. At this stage in my life, finishing up a doctoral degree has been at the top of my list. When I first attended college, my mind wasn’t there. However, despite not being in school education was still important.

The next outcome that’s important to me is to take the knowledge that I’ve gained and use it to impact the society and community. I’ve been doing that with everything I have currently learned from Walden University. I spend quite a bit of my time volunteering. The knowledge I have gained so far has allowed me to backup my experiences with facts. Likewise, it has allowed me to be even more resourceful in giving back to the community.

Being able to communicate my ideas and the rationale behind them is something that is also very important to me. This is mainly because having the ability to communicate in an effective manner is somewhat of a lost art. In many cases it’s not done well. In order to be successful at what you do, you must be able to convey your thought across. It’s particularly important when it comes to leadership as well. People are able to follow you when you have a clear vision and able to communicate that.

Lastly, we live in a diverse world. Many of the environments I have worked in have been as such. The world is not one-dimensional. Which is why Walden’s University Outcome of supporting diversity and multiculturalism is important to me as well. We live in neighborhoods and work with people who come from different backgrounds and walks of life. America has often been described as a melting pot because of the diversity here. Promoting diversity not only reduces stigma, but also reduces prejudice.