ASSIGNMENT #11: MOVING AND SHAKING

Exercise #1: First Steps

You have a series of next steps outlined on your planning wall. Pick one, complete it, and blog about it.

At this stage I have to prepare myself to take the GRE. As I’ve stated last week I’ve already bought the GRE Kaplan and the Princeton Review study guides three weeks ago. I’ve set aside lot’s of time to study for the GRE. There have been times when I did not want to study but I did. I also signed up to take various free GRE Class Courses and Practice test throughout the city of Chicago. I have mixed feeling during this whole process. I’m excited but I’m also fearful, discouraged, and disappointed.

Exercise #2: Reflecting on Fear
Barbara Sher argues that when you start moving, you start shaking! This week, I want you to notice when you experience resistance. Write a blog entry that describes the following:
What type of resistance you experience,
How it manifests for you,
What type of fear it reveals (stage fright or survival fear),
What are the underlying messages
How you moved through or around it


As I’ve stated, I’m excited but I’m also fearful, discouraged, and disappointed. In 2005 I strongly wanted to be a psychologist and I still do. So in 2006 I enrolled here at U.I.C. What I’m disappointed about is that I did not seek out a psychologists to get advise from he/she. I feel that I have not taken the right course to pursue a Ph.D in psychology. At first my major was applied psychology but I changed to general psychology last year in the hopes of graduating this year. The reason why I changed had to do with my job at the time and of course my family which became a strain on everyone associated with me. It got to the point that my job, family, and schooling were only receiving 50% of my time not to mention that I was giving myself 50% as well. So I rearranged everything around them. This year I graduated in the fall of 2009 feeling discouraged and disappointed. Why, so many reasons but while I was researching various grad schools I found out that:

1. At all the Major Universities in order to enroll in the fall of 2010 you have to submit your applications by the end of the this year . (Pressure!)

2. I have to take the GRE before I can submit any applications. That means I have start preparing ASAP (which I have) in order to take the GRE in September and October. The GRE is my biggest fear at the moment because If I don’t get an above score I may not be able to attend the Grad schools that I have chosen. (Pressure!)

3.) I was so focus on just Graduating that I allowed my associates, who’ve already have their Masters and Ph.D ,to persuade me in to not focus so much on getting A’s & B’s but to just graduate (Bad Advice). All Grad schools require that you have a certain minimum GPA in order to meet qualification, which I don’t think I’m their. (Pressure!)

The GRE is my biggest fear at the moment because If I don’t get an above score I may not be able to attend the Grad schools that I have chosen.

Even though I’m discouraged, disappointed, and fearful I’m still moving forward. I bought the GRE Kaplan and the Princeton Review study guides three weeks ago. I’ve set aside lot’s of time to study for the GRE. There have been times when I did not want to study the but I did. I also signed up to take various free GRE Class Courses and Practice test throughout the city of Chicago. The Underlying message through all this is that I feel that I’m not prepared and that I may not get accepted at a Major University for Grad School.