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：

這篇文章的作者勇于和大家分享一段及其隱私的個人經歷。主題的嚴肅性使他的作文令人過目難忘，同時給讀者留下了一個及其深刻的印象：妹妹患有嚴重的精神病，而身為哥哥的他想方設法為妹妹治病，在得知心理學是治療精神病患者的良方的時候，作者欣喜若狂并決心要深入研究心理學，希望能早日治愈妹妹的精神病。

但是，僅僅分享一段受創傷的往事是不夠的，使這篇作文真正鶴立雞群的是事例所表現出的作者在心理學領域中研究的深度和廣度。深度在于他對精神病患者的認識不局限于書本和媒體報道上，而是他通過從事醫生這份職業得到了許多接觸精神病患者的機會，通過這些機會他對精神病患者有了一個感性的認識。除此之外，他豐富的臨床經驗也為他的學術研究奠定了基礎。廣度就表現在他不僅僅局限于研究人的神經細胞，也嘗試著通過其他動植物來進行學術研究。借助于種種事例的說明，讀者能感覺到他未來個人發展和職業發展的成就。通過直截了當的解說性的寫作方式，作者輕而易舉地將他的學術研究經歷形象地展現在讀者眼前。作者成功地暗示，這些經歷是與他的職業生涯息息相關的。

結尾作者明確表明立場，而他的有關接受正規心理學輔導的需要也給讀者留下了清晰的印象。作者明確地表明，接受心理學領域的高等教育將成為他個人發展的重要的一步，同時也表明了自己為此而作的努力和準備。

譯文：

她經常會使盡全身的力量在原地里做無謂的轉圈動作。其實如果她不和身體里面的疾病細胞做斗爭的話，很有可能萎縮細胞會在她疏于防范的時候把她擊潰。我真的很想拉她一把，把她從亂踢亂叫的癡呆狀態中拉回到一個正常人的世界。我渴望可以掌握一種能幫助她驅除病魔的治療方法。之前我為此所做的無用功驅使我更加努力地去尋求答案。令我欣喜的是，我發現原來利用心理學說可以治療精神病。關于人類行為和大腦之間關系的研究讓我對于治療妹妹精神病有了一個明確的方向和更深層次的理解。后來我終于明白了精神病患者的苦處，也敬佩他們獨自與病魔做斗爭的勇氣，而對于患有精神病的妹妹，我也不再因為她的癡呆而感到惱怒和生氣。

作為東北大學主修心理學的學生，我喜歡與人打交道，尤其是與一些在 Mc’Lean醫院的深切治療病房里接受治療的精神病患者。而作為一名心智健康方面的專家，我在治療方法的研究領域表現積極。我做過病人專訪，病人精神狀況檢查，并且對治療病房進行了綜合管理。當我遇到并處理一些疑難雜癥時，我獲得極為豐富的臨床經驗。

我必須承認在一開始的時候我覺得在一間封閉的病房里工作是挺嚇人的。因為那時我對于嚴重到要住院接受治療的精神病患者的認識完全被書本上的描述和媒體的報道給歪曲了。而我在醫院工作的第一天，那短短的幾個小時里面，以前那種錯誤的認識很快就消失得無影無蹤了。在我碰到的精神病患者里面有一個患有嚴重抑郁癥的女人。她對生活、生命全然沒有感覺，平時她說的都是一些絕望之類的言語。由于她不能控制她自己，所以她會不時傷害自己，也因此她被送去了做檢查。最后她同意接受醫生所推薦的電休克療法，這是當時極具爭議性和被誤解的治療精神病的方法。僅僅在接受了一個半月的電休克療法之后，她重獲新生了。原來被絕望所遮蓋的雙眼現在變得如此的明亮和充滿生機。我可以遇到這么一些飽受病魔折磨的人。但令人覺得驚訝的是電休克療法發展至今已有60年了，它的治療原理至今還沒有人知道。人們只是確信他的治療功效。這個不足之處表明了加大新智健康研究領域投資的重要性。關于人類思想方面實在有太多東西值得我們去探索，去研究。正是那無止境的可研究的領域吸引著我。

正是這種好奇心驅使我開展了幾次研究工作。在一個研究網狀脊髓神經的實驗室里，我學會了如何使用一部高頻率的照相機來記錄下一些被切除了神經細胞的斑馬魚幼體的行為動作。我們詳細分析了這些幼體由于神經細胞的切除所導致的行為缺失。當我通過共焦顯微鏡觀察一條斑馬魚幼體，等待著它捕食草履蟲的時候，我發現了耐心對于學科研究來說尤為重要。而我的第二個實驗與之前的實驗是截然不同的：我協助一位研究生學者考查新西蘭鸚鵡的感官判斷能力。因為我們是采用顏色辨別任務來訓練那只鸚鵡，所以當我看到鸚鵡能夠準確地辨認出各種不同顏色的時候，我獲得了很大的滿足感，我也非常享受將我所學的知識真正地運用到學科研究中這一過程。

如今，為了要完成我的高級榮譽資格論文，我開展了一項大猩猩的研究活動，分析了野生大猩猩和被馴服了的大猩猩在性格特征上的異同。雖然這些不同的研究經驗使我具備了一些基本的研究能力，但我仍覺得自己需要更多的訓練。專業的知識學習，研究經歷以及本科的學習課程都進一步地激發了我在心理學上的興趣，也使我堅信我是適合在這個專業領域中研究學習的。而且這些學習機會也使我萌生了一個以后要在臨床研究領域發展的愿望。

提供相關研究生課程的學校將會培養我在這一方面的研究技能和傳授給我扎實的專業知識，使我成為一名成功的研究學者。一個碩士研究生的心理學課程不僅能培養我在臨床研究科學的興趣，而且能為我攻讀博士研究生做好充分的準備。我具備了成為一名出色的心理學者的所有特性，而我對這個領域研究工作的熱愛無疑是這些優良特性中最重要的一點。