“I was referred to as a problem-solver from a young age because a lot of my friends were getting into— obviously, as children— into petty arguments. I would be the mediator and a lot of them used to tell me that I was good at talking and that maybe I should become a counsellor.
In eight grade, I decided that psychology was something that I definitely wanted to do. Obviously, I had to try to find out if it would fit me or not because it wasn’t something we often heard about except for my mom; she studied psychology as a student but she wasn’t able to graduate from it but she always told me that she always wanted to.
My dad really wanted me to become a doctor but I was hellbent on not becoming one. My grandfather, my cousins, and my father were all engineers but I was the first person to take up an Arts subject and I was happy to shift into that field.
I remember one day when my grandfather asked what subject I was taking and when I responded with psychology, he said, ‘Oh, that’s a subject for girls’. I told him that it was not true; psychology is not associated with a specific gender. The rest of my family have also said that psychology is easy or that it’s not as hard as science. I would defend it at times but I have just stopped taking their comments into account because they will just have to see me excel in this field one day.
My mom is a housewife so one of the main stereotypes of taking arts is that after you graduate, you just get married and then stay at home. That’s the first thing you hear when you want to take up the arts but I always rejected that idea.
At least at home, they need to take [Psychology] more seriously because it’s an integral part of every human being. The first thing Psychology has taught me is to not compare what I feel to how other people may feel; human science shows you that every person is different. I think the first class that I attended, my teacher pointed out that everyone sitting here is different in one way or another.
Psychology also definitely makes me less angry. It’s helped me see things in a calmer manner by demonstrating that people may perceive the same thing very differently. It’s also helped my family understand that what I may be thinking may be very different from what they might be thinking. It’s actually helped calm all of us down.
The first thing Psychology will help me do is fulfill my mom’s dream because she wanted to do something but she couldn’t do it. Psychology is also going to shape a better future for me and for my family. It’s going to give me and my family another perspective because no one has explored this option before. While I’m exploring this option for myself, it’s also going to help everybody open their minds to it. I’m doing what makes me happy and I will excel in it because I want to do it.”