She would walk in futile circles, sapping her strength while going nowhere. If she did not resist atrophy with every cell in her body, it would creep in as soon as she dropped her vigilance. I wanted to grab her hand and drag her kicking and screaming into the world of reason. I yearned for the knowledge that would dissolve this cloak of darkness encompassing her illness. The futility of my efforts to help my sister compelled me to seek answers. What I discovered was the fascinating field of psychology. The study of human behavior and the brain provided me with clarity and perspective on my sister’s mental illness. I was finally able to comprehend and appreciate the challenges of living with a psychiatric disorder, not to mention correct my indignant and critical attitude towards her.

As a psychology student at Northeastern, I have taken an interest in working with people, most recently with adults in a locked inpatient unit at McLean Hospital's psychotic disorders program. As a mental health specialist, I am an active participant in the therapeutic environment. I conduct patient interviews, complete patient assessments, supervise the unit, and take vital signs. Witnessing the most destructive mental illnesses, I have gained extremely valuable insight into my future career.

I have to confess that, at first, the thought of working in a locked unit was intimidating. My perception of individuals with psychotic illnesses severe enough to require hospitalization was definitely skewed by black-and-white definitions in books and stereotypical depictions in the media. In a matter of hours on my first day, however, that feeling quickly dissipated. One of the first patients I encountered was a woman with severe psychotic depression. Numb to life, she would only utter negative words of despair. Due to her inability to control her impulses to hurt herself, she was put on five-minute checks. The patient finally heeded the recommendations of the doctors to have electroconvulsive therapy, a highly controversial and misunderstood treatment. After only a week and a half of ECT, she awoke to living again. Her eyes, tainted from the fog of depression, cleared and became bright with life. I was able to meet the person buried under the clenches of her illness. The most fascinating part to me was that even now, over 60 years since ECT's development, the basic mechanisms of why it works remain unknown; people are only confident in its efficacy. This shortcoming is indicative of how important it is to invest in mental health research. There is so much to be learned about the human mind, and the infinite possibilities of research captivate me.

This curiosity has led me to several research experiences. In one laboratory, which investigates reticulospinal neurons, I learned how to use a high-speed camera to record the behaviors of larval zebra fish that had specific nerve cells ablated. We analyzed the detailed measurements of behavioral deficit resulting from such cell ablations. When I watched a tiny zebra fish for over three hours through a confocal microscope, waiting for it to feed on paramecium, the patience needed for research became apparent. My next research experience was drastically different: I assisted a graduate student in evaluating and demonstrating the cognitive abilities of the New Zealand keas. As the kea was trained in color discriminations tasks, I took immense satisfaction from watching the operant condition in action and enjoyed applying my knowledge in the lab.

Currently, for my senior honors thesis, I am conducting observational studies on a group of gorillas, analyzing the relationship of personality characteristics to social roles in a group of captive Western Lowland Gorillas. Although these varied research experiences have provided me with fundamental skills, I still feel the need for more training. Professional experiences, research, and undergraduate courses have further stimulated my interest in psychology and reinforced my conviction that I am well suited to the field. Moreover, these opportunities created a desire to pursue a career in clinical research.

Graduate school will enable me to develop vital research skills and the solid academic background that I need to be a successful researcher. A master's program in psychology will not only cultivate and refine my interest in clinical research, but also equip me to deal with the challenges of a PhD program. I have all the traits needed to be a good psychologist; undoubtedly, my devotion to my education will be the greatest asset of all.

點評：

這是一篇心理學專業的申請文書。

文章以一個病例作為開頭，并且是身邊較為親近的人——妹妹。或許這在一定程度上可以理解為作者對心理治療產生興趣的根源，也很自然的引出了自己的專業領域?？梢哉f，有其獨到之處，并且讓人感到很真實。
心理學是一門實踐性較強的學科，在一個個鮮活的案例中，才能更深入理解其學術理論，而作者也是把重點放在了對自己實踐經驗的描述上，對一個個接觸的病例的分析，以及在實驗中學到的知識、想法，穿插性的表達，在敘述自己學術背景的同時，也表明了自己對這門學科的熱愛，同時也使自己的性格等方面的信息傳達給了讀者。

作者的豐富經歷，使整個文章感覺很有活力，顯示了作為心理學學生所應該具備的素質，因此，可以說是一篇能夠吸引住教授眼球的優秀文書。

譯文：

當無處可去的時候，她會不停的走圈子以宣泄她的精力。如果她不用全身的細胞去對抗萎縮，那么只要她稍一松懈，這種萎縮將會很快蔓延到她的全身。我想抓住她的雙手，把她從無端的打鬧和尖叫中解救出來重返正常人的生活。我急切的想知道治療她疾病的知識。想幫助我妹妹的信念支持著我去尋找答案。這時我發現了心理學中一個令人著迷的領域。關于人類行為和腦的研究是我對妹妹的精神疾病有了清晰的認識，并使我看到了治好她的病的前景。我終于能夠理解感激這種與精神錯亂的患者生活在一起的狀態，而不是沖著妹妹發泄我的不滿和極端的意見。

作為Northeastern的一個心理學專業的學生。我對和病人一起工作有很大的興趣，特別是最近在McLean醫院的精神錯亂的項目中，我和該醫院的成年病人相處的很好。作為一個精神衛生的專家，在這個醫療項目中我是個積極分子。我管理病人的會見時間，完成對病人的評估，觀察病人，紀錄典型癥狀。目擊了最有破壞力的精神疾病，我已經對我的將來的職業有了很好的洞察。

我不得不坦白的說，一開始，跟被監管的病人工作的想法是不情愿的。我所理解的這些精神病人是極端需要住院治療的，并且是被書本歪曲和媒體多方位描寫的典型例子。但在我去醫院的幾個小時后這種想法便很快消散了。我遇到的第一個病人是一位患有嚴重抑郁的女患者。由于對生活的麻木，她只能重復消極的詞語。鑒于她嚴重的自我傷害傾向，醫院對她實行每隔五分鐘檢查的制度。最終醫生建議對她實行電擊療法，一種頗有爭議和容易引起誤解的療法。在經過一周半的電擊療法后，她對生活有產生了興趣。我可以看到一個戰勝了自己精神疾病的患者。到現在為止我仍有一個巨大的迷惑，雖然電擊療法已經發展了六十年，但它的治療疾病的原理仍不明確。人們只是信任它的療效。這種迷惑證明了對精神健康的研究的重要性。關于人類精神的研究還有很多東西要去學習，正是這種無限的探索領域吸引了我。

這種好奇心是我有了更多的實驗經歷。在一個研究脊髓細胞的實驗室中，我學會了如何用高速相機拍攝斑馬魚細胞放電現象。我們仔細分析了由細胞放電導致的行為測量值的放大。當我通過共焦顯微鏡觀察斑馬魚三個小時，為了等待它進食草履蟲時，我發現耐心是極為重要的。另一個試驗經歷則完全不同，我作為一個研究生的助手，協助他完成對新西蘭鸚鵡認知能力的估計和證明。在訓練鸚鵡辨別色彩的同時，我從觀察受控對象中得到的極大的滿足，并且我享受著在實驗室里應用自己知識的過程。

最近，為了我的高年級論文，我負責了一項觀察大猩猩的研究。分析西部弟低地大猩猩的個性特質和群落角色之間的關系。通過多樣化的實驗經驗，我獲得了基本是實驗技巧。但我還需要更多的這方面的知識。我對心理學方面專業的經驗，試驗，和研究生課程有著極大的興趣，并且這些也更加堅定了我適合心理學這一領域的信念。此外，這些試驗的機會也使我更加傾向于臨床治療職業。

研究生教育可以提供我成為成功研究員的一切要素包括提升我的試驗技巧，鞏固的專業背景。心理學碩士課程不僅可以培養和鞏固我對臨床研究的興趣，而且可以讓我挑戰更有難度的博士課程。我身上包含著成為一名優秀心理學者的全部特征，毫無疑問，我對心理學巨大的投入是最大的資產。