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Blog 10: Cali Ruth Hays

My freshman year of college I came to school with an open mind and open options. I told myself I could do anything I wanted as long as I put my mind to it. I had people (teachers, coaches, family, and friends) all giving me different ideas of what I should do for my career. Some examples of those ideas were: coach, teacher, physical therapist, nutritionist, etc. I had so many options of what I could do and never really focused on what I wanted to do until my sophomore year. Freshman year I bounced around majors trying to decide which one was best for me and I spent a lot of time listening to people tell me what I should do. I definitely learned I have to do what I am passionate about and what will make me happy. It is good to have many options to choose from, but it does become too much at some point. One idea Designing Your Life discusses is called the Pizza-Chinese Effect. You have a list of possible career choices and you cross off all the ones you know you don't want to do. Thi...
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Blog 9: Cali Ruth Hays

Creating an Odyssey Plan is hard work and takes time. It is crucial for you to realistically think about your life and what you want to do with it. The plan consists of 3 different lives that you would want to live or are living. Life one is what you are doing right now and what you have in mind for what you want to do. Life two is the thing you would do if life one were to suddenly disappear. Life three is the life you would live if money or image didn't matter. Having an Odyssey Plan helps you map out your future, shows different options or routes you could take, and gives an alternative plan if all else fails. When thinking about my career choices, I have to ask myself if my job would benefit myself (make me happy) and also impact other people's lives as well. Also, is the plan coherent with your work view/ life view. For my plan, I have two routes I could take. I am transferring to UGA and the Fall and plan on changing my major to Human Development and Family Science in ord...
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Blog 8: Cali Ruth Hays

One of the biggest and most important aspects of a career is finding a job that you enjoy and ultimately fulfills your life goals. It would be very unfortunate to work at a place that drained you both physically and emotionally every single day. The overall theme of chapter 3 in "Designing Your Life" is about creating a Good Time Journal. This is basically a daily log where you track your engagement, flow, and energy levels while at work. A job where you are engaged in what you're doing, interested, and eager to learn more is the type of career you want to pursue. Flow is a word used to describe engagement on steroids. It is the feeling of being "in the zone", totally engaged, free from stress or worry, and at peace with yourself and surroundings. If you ever log periods of time where you experience flow at work, you know you're doing something right. Lastly, you want to have increased energy levels at work instead of feeling like you're being dragged ar...
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Blog 7: Cali Ruth Hays

Personally, graduate school is something that I want to go to in order to become a certified child life specialist and get the best possible job. Graduate school can be an intimidating and overwhelming experience, and I think this chapter does a good job of explaining the ends and outs of it. Before applying, it is crucial to make sure you have the motivation and are willing to spend extra time in school. The benefits of grad school are endless. 2 major downfalls of grad school are the cost and having to relocate. One thing I really learned from chapter 10 of The Psychology Major's Companion is that it is so important to already start planning for grad school and decide if it is something you need to do. In order to get into places, they will look at your GPA and GRE scores so it is necessary to keep up your grades and perform well on the GRE. For me, I know I probably won't get into every grad school that I apply to. But, I can't let this put me down or have a negative eff...
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Blog 6: Cali Ruth Hays

In the beginning of chapter 7 in The Psychology Major's Companion, the authors discuss how to create research ideas. It is important to find situations and observations that interest you. Or look at things that are common or unusual behaviors that are worth examining more closely. The next step is to extend your knowledge about a certain topic you already know about. Lastly, finding a paradox that contradicts what people will expect to be the outcome in an everyday life type of problem. Paradoxes make great points when finding a research topic. Another situation that the authors focus on is the old saying that "opposites attract". I find this phrase to be false. People who are completely different will have nothing in common and no similarities that they can feed off of each other with. There will probably be more arguments because their beliefs or values will most likely be different. They won't see eye to eye on anything and that will just cause numerous issues. Cou...
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Blog 5: Cali Ruth Hays

In The Defining Decade,  Meg Jay portrays a dating metaphor, which a client told her about, that really hits deep. The client said that dating in your twenties was like musical chairs. Everyone is having fun and dating around, but once you hit 30, the music stopped and everyone starting sitting or settling down. The client felt like the only one left without a chair, and this is a harsh reality. By your late twenties, it will seem that all your friends are settling down and getting married and there is a massive fear that you will be left behind. There is a large amount of pressure for people to be married by the time they reach their thirties and I think this is both a good and bas thing. Yes, it is important to search for the person who you will spend the rest of your life with, but you definitely don't want to end up running out of time and settling with the person you're with, when you know they're not the right one. Many people fall into this trap and marry the closest...
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Blog 4: Cali Ruth Hays

In recent years, psychology has become one of the top or most popular major among any campus. It is often perceived as an "easy" major that ultimately will not benefit you in the long run. Or people believe that the only path psychology leads to is being a psychologist or some type of therapist. However, these perceptions are all wrong. The Psychology Major's Companion lists all of the skills and benefits of getting an undergraduate degree in psychology. Some examples of this are: recognizing and fostering diversity, taking a creative and skeptical approach to problem solving, communicating effectively, and applying psychological principles to numerous different areas in our everyday lives. Nicky Hayes , who has a PhD in Psychology, lists several skills obtained from majoring in psychology. A few of them include: trained to write in more than one literacy format, highly numerate, computer literate, environment awareness, research skills, etc.  Psychology basically prepar...
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