1. Ramona Gladden-Jacobs
Personal and Professional Development
Fall 2016
Reflection Paper
Before entering into the college years of my life I had struggled for a little while trying to
decide on what it was that I wanted to be. Then the semester that I was set to graduate I had
finally decided what it was that I would want to major in once I got to college. It dawned on me
that since I had years of experience of doing visual and performing arts I would major in Studio
Art. Luckily the University Of South Carolina Of Beaufort offered that major and was also my
first choice so I was very excited. However, once I started my freshman year a lot had changed
between graduation and then. After still being confused about what it was that I really wanted
to major in, I then decided that I would be undecided and just take different intro classes to see
what interested me the most. After an entire year of basically just taking those classes in my
junior year I had decided to declare psychology as my major. I must say that going undecided
for that long period of time did help me in my opinion because it gave me a chance to explore
different majors that were so different yet had some similarities.
As a matter of fact once I finally declared my major I also found out that I had taken
most of the classes that I needed in order for me to graduate which was also a small relief
because it made me feel like the bulk of it was almost over with. During the time of taking

2. different psychology course I decided to narrow down my options to what it was that I actually
wanted to do with my degree once I graduated. I put two and two together and came to the
conclusion that since I like helping people and children especially that it would revolve around
those main things. Having the opportunity to speak with different individuals who were highly
experienced and qualified in my field of study it gave me a great sense of direction to narrow
down my decision even more. I knew that I wanted to work with people and children, in a
school systemand with families but I did not want to teach. This very thought was sort of like
my foundation in helping me build more on my idea. Then I decided to ask some of my
professors and also meet with people who were in the school system to hear some of their
stories and so that they could help shed some light on those things. I must say that it indeed
worked because after seeing and hearing first-hand what those things would require I came to
my final decision that once I graduated I would be working towards one or two things which
is/was being a Guidance Counselor or a Family/Marriage Therapist.
Now here it is in my senior year I must say that I have faced a few changes because I
have had a chance to explore even more in a different career field which is Fashion/Retail. I am
still a psychology major but I have now decided that once I graduate I will use what I have
learned about Fashion/Retail as an aid to help me in an area of previous certification that I am
qualified for. A few people have asked me how does the two go hand in hand and the way that I
see it, you sometimes have to know and understand how people of the world work in order to
sell merchandise or anything else that falls in that category, which seems to be a logical
explanation behind that.