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Undergraduate Studies ePortfolio

David Morgan Sr. Psychology, 2011

Personal Statement

I have struggle for 50 years to hear one man, my father to tell me that he was finally proud of me. This has instilled a struggle within me to be the best at whatever I do; I refuse to accept anything less out of myself. I come from an abusive home as a child; I watched my mother beaten at least twice a week if not more by my father. At the age of twelve, I intervene and my father turned his hate, anger, and rage upon me. Therefore, I became a child and later on an adolescent that was physically abused. I felt if I could somehow make this man say that he was proud of me that it could change the abuse. However; as I grew into adolescences the abuse became worse, his weapon of choice became his fist, and I was hospitalized twice for surgery on my sinus from sustaining his abuse.

I became an accomplished musician and was offered a music scholarship to a university in Tennessee, which I turned down because I was working in broadcasting at the time. I married my first wife at the age of 21. We have three lovely daughters together however, I found myself in another abusive relationship with the exception that this was not physical abuse it was mental and emotional. While married to my first wife, I left broadcasting and went into the U.S. Army in 1982 as an Air Traffic Controller (ATC) during the controller strike of 1982. I graduated first in my class and was rewarded as my first duty station, the very prestigious Pentagon Heliport. Still searching for those words from my father that seemed to elude me, I was named the Air Traffic Controller of the year award two years in a row 1986 and 1987. Additionally I was award an Air Traffic Controller save in 1985 in Korea.

I left the Military in 1992, and began my career with AT&T as a cable installer. In five years, I had work my way up the company ladder to the position of Directory Listings and Assistance Manager. I worked for AT&T for ten years, and then I was laid off after Comcast bought out AT&T in Denver. At the same time, I was going through a horrible divorce from my first wife, and had to rebuild my life. Therefore, I decide to do something that I had always wanted to do and that was to drive over the road. I obtained my Class A Commercial Driver’s License and started driving with a major transportation company based out of Arizona, and these is where I met the woman I am married to today.

Personal Statement (CONT.)

We drove as a team for almost a year then she left the road so she could stay home with our son David Jr., and I started driving locally in Denver. Even though my wife is substantially younger than I am, she has the wisdom of a much older and wiser individual. She taught me that in order to love again I must first love who I am, additionally she taught me that I had to be proud of who I am before anyone else would be proud. I now have a loving wife and a seven-year-old son who are both proud of their husband and father.

I am now 52 years-old and have become an individual that others admire and respect for who I have become. I have inspired several individuals that I now work with to seek a higher education. I know work as a corrections officer, it may not be a job with glimmer or a job that makes a lot of money however, it is a job where I can talk to the younger offenders and work with them so they do not return to prison. I enjoy inspiring people to seek their full potential and bring out the best in them. This is why I have chosen the field of Mental Health Counseling.

After so many struggles in my life, I am ready to work with others and share my experiences with them through therapy. I believe that with my now developed determination, I will be able to successfully complete My Master’s program and move on to my Doctoral program and began my own practice and with my heightened sense of compassion I will be able to assist those who, like me, perhaps began life with a shoddy foundation. Love who you are and be proud of yourself, your spouse, and your children.

Resume

Education

Sept 2008 — Dec 2011, Argosy University

B.S. in Psychology

(With Honors)

Major academic courses: Advanced General Psychology; Substance Abuse and the Family; Substance Abuse Treatment in

Criminal Justice System; Ethics in Psychology; Personality Theory ; Research Methods; Counseling Theories

 

Aug 2007 — June 2008, Colorado Technical University

Associates in Science and General Studies

(With Honors)

 

Positions Held

July 2007 — Present, Correctional Officer

Department of Corrections, State of North Carolina

To maintain the safety of inmates that are in my custody, while safeguarding the general public, and maintaining

state property.

Resume (cont.)

Sep 2004 — July 2007, Tands Inc./ Bojangles

Senior Training Co-Manager

To assist in the training of newly hired managers in all positions with the Bojangles Restaurants.

May 2003 — July 2004, Swift Transportation Inc.

Over The Road Truck Driver

To ensure the safe and on time delivery of all freight assigned to my vehicle.

Feb 1993 — Nov 2002, AT&T Communications

Manager of Directory Listings/ Directory Assistance

Managed a department of 30 individuals that were responsible for inputting the customers information for the

phone books, Directory Listings (411) and for the (911) emergency operators.

May 1982 — July 1992, U.S. Army

Air Traffic Controller

Provide for the safe and expeditious flow of air traffic into and out of all airfields that I was assigned to.

 

Resume (cont.)

 Fields of Interest

I am interested in working with the mentally challenged, children, Family counseling, substance abuse counseling, couples

and marriage counseling. Additionally, I am interested in working with troubled youths that have been or are being

recruited by gangs.

 

Collegiate Societies

National Society for Collegiate Scholars

 

Hobbies and Personal Interest

Football; Hockey; Golf; Classical Music; Motown Music; Christian Music and Computer games with my seven year old.

 

Computer Skills

I am well versed in Microsoft office Access; Word; PowerPoint; Excel; OneNote and Publications.

Reflection

A self-appraisal should include professional, personal, and in some cases spiritual growth. The greatest thing that I will

take away from my experience at Argosy University is the ability to listen to people. I have learned that anyone can hear

someone but not everyone actually listens. As individuals, we speak to each other several different ways, with words of

course, but also with emotions, actions, and body language. As psychologists, we need to be open to all forms of

communication to understand the true meaning or statement that our clients are trying to convey. Additionally, I have

learned never to judge a book be its cover, what I mean here is that although an individual may appear to have themselves

together for the most part, we should not be foul be their outward appearance, pain and suffering are not always written on

someone’s face, it usually lies deeper into their very soul.

Argosy has also taught me the importance of doing my own research and always ensuring that my research is coming

from scholarly sources. Additionally, it is important to be as diverse as possible and to understand different sexes, cultures,

and religions, cultures also pertains to the different regions of the United States. Argosy has also taught me to learn from all

the theories of psychology such as, Freudian, Adlerian, CBT, Feminism, and the others, but the best psychologist are the

ones who do not profess only one of the fourteen theories, they learn and take away from all of them to formulate their own

style.

I have enjoyed learning the many different ways to work with children such as play, music, and art therapy. By using,

the different methodologies will assist the child in communicating what is going on in their world and brings us on an even

plan to communicate. I have enjoyed my time at Argosy university and have made many friends and learned under the

tutelage of some of the most knowledgeable professor in their professions. I will attempt to make them proud of my future

work as I continue my education at Capella University, to obtain my Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling. Thank

You to everyone at Argosy University for giving me the ability to spread my wings and fly.

Table of Contents

Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and Information Literacy

Research SkillsCommunication Skills: Oral and WrittenEthics and Diversity AwarenessFoundations of PsychologyApplied PsychologyInterpersonal Effectiveness

Critical Thinking

The two halves or hemispheres of the human brain or connected and communicate through an area of the brain called the corpus callosum. The corpus callosum is a structure of the brain that is made up of some 200 million nerve fibers, and is the major line of communication between the two hemispheres. (Gerrig, Zimbardo, & Hock, 2009). Once this line of communication has been cut, the two hemispheres must function independently. What is important to remember here is that what we see through our left eye is transmitted to the right hemisphere of the brain. What is being viewed goes through first the optical nerve and then the path gets switch to the right side of the brain at the optical chiasm. The same happens to what we view through the right eye and the way it is transmitted to the left hemisphere (Visual System, 2011).

Hemispheric Lateralization is the conviction that the human brain has two relatively distinctive hemispheres and each hemisphere is responsible for different functions. Lateralization is when a function such as speech is localized to one specific hemisphere in this case speech is localized to the left hemisphere of the brain. The functions that are lateralized to the left hemisphere of the brain are speaking, writing, mathematical calculations, and reading, and it is the primary center for language. The functions that are lateralized to the right hemisphere of the brain are facial recognition, solving problems that involve spatial relationships, symbolic reasoning, and artistic activities (Gerrig, Zimbardo, & Hock, 2009). 

Consider some of the difficulties the split-brain operation causes and the strategies you would recommend to help a patient manage them.

The biggest hurdle for the patient to overcome is the fact that the two hemispheres do not communicate as the once did. However, it is believed that the two hemispheres still communicate on a subconscious level. Two examples displayed themselves later on in the research; first when a male patient was ask “what profession would he choose he said verbally (left hemisphere) a draftsman however; he spelled using block letters with his left hand (right hemisphere) automobile racer (Gerrig, Zimbardo, & Hock, 2009). The second occurred when the researchers were working with a female patient and wanted to explorer an individual’s emotional reactions of a split-brain patient. They flashed a photo of a nude woman to the left hemisphere of the female patient. She laughed and verbally confirmed she had seen a photo of a nude woman. However; when the same photo was displayed to the right hemisphere, she said that she saw nothing, but she almost immediately get a sly smile across her face and started to giggle. When the researchers ask what she was laughing about, she said that see did not know (Gerrig, Zimbardo, & Hock, 2009).

Critical Thinking

According to the research that has been conducted on the split-brain one could conclude that two different brains exit within each individual’s cranium, each brain with different complex abilities. It could also be concluded that an individual with a split-brain possess the potential to process twice as much information, and have the ability to perform two cognitive task as fast as a normal individual can perform one cognitive task (Gerrig, Zimbardo, & Hock, 2009).

Was it ethical to do this study? Was it right to trade the suffering experienced by participants for the knowledge gained by the research?

Ethically this type of research would never allow such drastic measures such as an actual surgery to sever the connection of the two hemispheres, the corpus callosum. However, in the late 1950s the medical field produced psychologist the opportunity to study the effects of a split-brain, in the form of individuals with a rare and extreme case of uncontrollable epilepsy. It had been discovered that seizures could be greatly reduced or even eliminated by surgically severing the corpus callosum. However, this procedure was of a last resort for these patients (Gerrig, Zimbardo, & Hock, 2009). Therefore, because the surgery was and is a success in these cases the proceeding research should not be affected by ethical boundaries.

References:

Visual System. (2011). Retrieved November 5, 2011, from Posit Science: http://www.positscience.com/science/how-

training-works/program-design/visual-system

Gerrig, R. J., Zimbardo, P. G., & Hock, R. R. (2009). AN OVERVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY: Its Past and Present, Your

Future. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pentrice Hall.

 

My Future in Learning

What it means to be a Life Long Learner

Learning is a lifelong process and is something we begin at birth and we continue to learn until the moment of our

death. We learn to live, love, share, and hopefully pass on what we have learned to the next generation. We learn from our

education, life experiences, and things we have attempted and succeed and with things we have failed in. Additionally, we

learn how to turn our failures into successes.

My goal is to continue my formal education and obtain my doctoral in family counseling. My life experiences will

benefit me as a counselor because of all the things that I have seen and all the different experiences that I have encounter

along life’s pathways.

Contact Me

Thank you for viewing my ePortfolio.

For further information, please contact me at the e-

mail address below. dmorgansr10@gmail.com