2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. 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.
8. Table of Contents
Cognitive Abilities: Critical Thinking and
Information Literacy
Research Skills
Communication Skills: Oral and Written
Ethics and Diversity Awareness
Foundations of Psychology
Applied Psychology
Interpersonal Effectiveness
9. 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).
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Contact Me
Thank you for viewing my
ePortfolio.
For further information, please
contact me at the e-mail address
below.
dmorgansr10@gmail.com
