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Undergraduate Studies ePortfolio

Elizabeth CommonsPsychology, 2011

Personal Statement

• Where it began• My future plans as far as

education goes• Other goals

Resume103 ½ East Main Street, New Paris, OH 45347(937)423-3076elizabeth.commons@yahoo.com

Elizabeth Ann CommonsObjectiveI would like to find employment through an establishment working in the field of Psychology. I would really like to help those

going through drug rehab to better themselves. This field really hits home for me and I would love to make a difference in someone’s life.

ExperienceJune 2008-Present Taco Bell Eaton, OHShift Manager• Directing and coaching the team to successfully serve guests in a timely manner.• Manage inventory and cash in order for the store to run successfully.• Paperwork.December 2006-May 2008 Pizza Hut Eaton, OHShift Manager• Directing and coaching the team to successfully serve guests in a timely manner.• Manage inventory and cash in order to run the store successfully.• PaperworkJune 2005-March 2007 Taco Bell Eaton, OHCrew Member• Prep ingredients.• Help keep the store clean.• Serve guests hot and delicious food quickly and accurately.EducationOctober 2009-Present Argosy University OnlineBA in PsychologyI am currently finishing up the program to receive my Bachelor’s in Psychology.ReferencesReferences are available on request.

Reflection

I have learned a great deal from my time at Argosy. Taking classes from General Psychology to Crime and Causes to Human Sexuality. Each class being unique and interesting which makes it hard to decide where I want my concentration to be in. I would say my educational weakness would be expressing ideas orally because I do not really get a chance to do so taking online classes. I am a rather shy person and get very nervous in front of groups. I do think this could change with some practice. I believe my strengths lie with being an active listener and being able to face diversity. I try to be not to be bias and listen to everyone’s issues no matter how big or small they might be.

Table of Contents

Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy

Research SkillsCommunication Skills: Oral and WrittenEthics and Diversity AwarenessFoundations of PsychologyApplied PsychologyInterpersonal Effectiveness**Include work samples and projects with a Title Page and

organized accordingly to demonstrate each of the Program Outcomes above

Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy

• Critical Thinking• I believe I have a significant amount of exposure in this area. All my work from

previous classes are all stuck on my old computer that broke, and I was not aware that I would be in need of them later on so I do not have any sample works. I think I do well at analyzing psychological perspectives from multiple perspectives on given topics. I usually see topics in many different lights and can discuss them from all sorts of angles. I do think that I do have room to improve, but who doesn’t?

• Information Literacy• I believe I do an excellent job at collecting information. I know how to use database to

find articles for the given topic. I know how to look to see if these sources are reliable. For example, Psychology journals are deemed pretty reliable for research whereas an entry in Wikipedia would not be. Articles in journals are usually written by professionals in the field and anyone can publish an entry in Wikipedia.

Research Skills

Understanding Research MethodsI do not have a lot of experience with this. I know quite a bit

about analyzing research findings; just do not have a lot of experience dealing with them. I can identify most statistical and evaluative tools and understand what they mean. I believe I just need more practice and it will be like second nature to me.

Communication Skills: Oral and Written

• Oral• This is another area I haven’t had much experience in. Taking

classes online we do not get a chance to present things orally. I am also a bit shy at time and get nervous in front of groups. Doing it more would improve my abilities.

• Written• I believe I can do this fairly well. Knowing one’s audience is

important in any type of writing. If we are writing to an audience of everyday people, we would want to explain terms they would not know. If the audience is a group of professionals in the field, we would not have to simplify the assignment for them to understand. I do think I have a problem knowing how to write for any certain group.

Ethics and Diversity Awareness

• Ethics• I believe I need more experience with the ethics. Some classes spent a

lot of time on ethics while others did not. They were always present, but sometimes not brought up as often. I know of the ethics, but could use some more time with them to know them like the back of my hand.

• Diversity• I believe I am very aware of the issues related to diversity. It can be very

hard to understand other populations, but as psychologists we have to overcome this obstacle. Personal biases can make issues worse for patients. We need to be there for them to help them through, not make them feel worse about their differences.

Foundations of Psychology

• Knowledge of Psychology• I have learned quite a bit of Psychological knowledge while

studying at Argosy. I know there is much more to learn though, or there would not be a such thing as furthering education. I believe I have the ability to analyze and apply concepts and perspectives, etc. in psychology to specific topics. It just takes thinking about it in a different way. For example, we can apply classical conditioning to many situations such as if we are expecting a call from a cute boy, every phone call would be associated with the boy. Hearing the phone ring could cause one’s heart to race and nerves to set in thinking it could be the cute boy calling.

Applied Psychology

• Knowledge of Applied Psychology• I’ve applied psychological principles to personal issues many times.

Something will happen and I will look at it and think about it and realize I can associate it to psychology. I find it rather neat. I see things such as someone avoiding something to avoid a punishment and relate it to learning. We learn at an early age how to behave. We learn that we should not behave badly in fear of getting punished so we behave well to avoid that punishment. This is part of the punishment and reinforcement theory.

Interpersonal Effectiveness

• Active Listening• I believe I am a great listener. I try to be concerned in what the

person is saying, give my advice in their situation, comfort them when needed to show them I truly care, and try to understand the problem. I give them respect by listening and not trying to interrupt them at any moment. Many people come to me as a person to talk things through with to help them feel a little better about the situation. Sometimes, just talking about it makes you feel better.

My Future in Learning

Learning is a lifelong passion of mine. I love learning new subjects to add to my reportoire. I envision myself continuing to learn in any area my life takes me. Whether I get to live my dream to be an author, a chef, or further my education in Psychology; I will always be learning. I love just jumping into whatever I am doing and trying new things whether it’s a recipe, a new genre of writing, or anything in the world of Psychology. I hope to be able to gain the most knowledge possible in my lifetime. I want to keep my mind young by continually throwing challenges my way.

Contact Me

Thank you for viewing my ePortfolio.

For further information, please contact me at the e-

mail address below. Elizabeth.commons@yahoo.com