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My column in the last issue of New York City Voices described the unique nature of the Graduate Program in Psychology at C.W. Post College. As a follow up to that article, I would like to share with you some excerpts from essays that some of the students as well as one of the Program Directors submitted. Each one wanted to tell personal accounts of why they chose to work in the field of mental health.

Many students are motivated toward a career by experiences they have encountered in their own lives. For Heather Carpenter, "being adopted from Colombia into an ethnically disparate household was the beginning of a journey towards pursuing a career in clinical psychology. This road is as much a pathway towards the understanding of myself as it is towards helping others." Heather says that during her education, she was influenced by several role models, including a graduate student from South America as well as a medical doctor who was a mentor.

Through much self-searching she realized that "I knew my true interest was in the human mind and that I wanted to focus all of my attention and curiosity into this field. I realized that one of the greatest treatments to people in need is the understanding of someone who is dedicated to them."

Another student, Nicole Elden, says she "decided to pursue a career in psychology during my high school years." She remembers how, at age 12, she was influenced by the movie "Sybil" that recounted the true-life story of a young woman suffering from Dissociative Disorder. Nicole "felt inspired by the character's strength and insistence on living despite all she had gone through."

Nicole's personal experience was also influenced by the fact that while growing up, she had to adjust to her family moving several times. She lived among several diverse cultures -- from the Philippines, to Northern Virginia, to Queens, New York. Her first-hand knowledge of the differing norms and expectations among people of differing ethnic and economic backgrounds helped her develop a "thirst to learn about all human beings and their behaviors. Particularly, I am interested in the under-represented minority viewpoints that are so often ignored. For me, a major responsibility of being a psychologist is helping under-represented individuals such as minorities, the economically disadvantaged and the stigmatized mentally ill populations learn to advocate for themselves."

Dr. Geoff Goodman is one of the directors of the Graduate Program. He says that while in college at M.I.T., he took classes such as "…Introduction to Psychology and Social Psychology, and from the very beginning I felt that I was studying a subject that immediately grabbed and sustained my attention." Dr. Goodman adds that, "the way in which I connected to my chosen career is intricately related to my experiences growing up… I always knew that someday, in some way, I wanted to help people overcome their obstacles, their struggles in life… and so my past experiences with my parents and siblings -- both good and bad -- probably had the largest share in forming my decision to become a clinical psychologist. But rather than perceiving these experiences as a liability in treating patients, with some insight and understanding, they become my most powerful therapeutic tool."