Who Am I?

Setting Intentions

I began my time at IU Indianapolis as a nervous, first-year Honors scholar, fresh out of high school, and focused on taking advantage of every opportunity I could. I was still exploring different paths to get to my career goal of being a therapist for adolescents and young adults. As I looked at the community offered by IU Indianapolis, I saw many opportunities that could help me explore those paths: research, student organizations, on-campus employment, study abroad, and more. The last four years have been filled with learning through the opportunities I saw as a freshman, through those I found later on, and through the quiet, reflective moments I made along the way. Among the quiet and reflective moments, I created intention statements and journey maps at two points in my undergraduate journey: the spring of my freshman year (2023) and the spring of my senior year (2026) as part of the Honors College curriculum.

New Beginnings: Spring 2023

My original intentions focused on self improvement and professional development.

I Was:

I am ambitious in all aspects of my life, academically and personally, and often am such at any cost. I am self-disciplined in order to work towards these academic and personal goals. My intense drive to make an impact on others enables me to continue in my journey to becoming the most successful version of myself, and I utilize any resources I can find to facilitate reaching my goals. Often, I am recognized as dependable as I fully dedicate myself to anything I sign up for, whether it is a job, a class, a volunteer opportunity, or a social group. However, this full out dedication coupled with harsh self-discipline can often create a less than ideal situation and can end up being counterproductive.

I Wanted to Become:

I want to become a stronger, more confident version of myself, that makes a difference in others' lives. Academically, I hope to maintain a 3.9 GPA or higher, and gain knowledge across the subject matter of classes that I may currently struggle with. I want to deepen my knowledge of psychology and how the brain works in order to become a therapist who helps individuals who have mental health disorders or struggle with trauma induced symptoms. Personally, I hope to be more confident in my abilities, both academically and socially. The individual I hope to become lives in the moment, doesn't dwell on past decisions nor future decisions, is dependable and trustworthy, accepted by all and accepting of all, and capable of maintaining a well-balanced life. This last piece is particularly important. I often dedicate myself so deeply and couple it with harsh self-discipline. This combination can be destructive, so maintaining a well-balanced life will ensure that I partake in my passions and responsibilities equally without being so self-critical.

As an honors student, I hope to build my network of professionals that can aid me in my journey to becoming a psychologist. These connections can be facilitated by my actions as an honors student, whether they are philanthropically- and service-based or academically focused through development of honors contracts and projects. I also hope to take advantage of my opportunities granted as an honors student. I want to be more engaged in the community than I currently am, via student organizations that are oriented specifically for honors students. Building this community further will develop my sense of belonging and allow me to understand myself and my peers better. This knowledge of self and of others will allow me to continue to morph and change my goals for my future as an honors scholar and as a professional.

My new intention statements encapsulate where I am today and my professional goals.

Now, I'm a well-rounded, other-oriented, and empathetic leader. My experience as a mentor, academic success coach, and resident assistant have shaped me into a compassionate listener, motivated to help individuals find effective ways to navigate their collegiate experiences and life. As a future counselor, my time assisting with psychological research has taught me to value maintaining knowledge of the ever-growing body of research that can and should inform practice while holding space to reasonably adapt evidence-based practices to individual client needs. I also deeply value inclusivity and equity, and I volunteer in my community with organizations, such as Teacher's Treasures and Jagathon, that help combat systemic inequalities, especially those related to socioeconomic status and youth's education and healthcare access.

On teams, I take the role of organizer and advocate, working to ensure that my teammates' voices are heard, potential pitfalls are identified and planned for, and tasks are delegated. Throughout my professional and academic experiences, I have prioritized finding what fuels me and recharges me; outside of the classroom, I am an avid puzzler and reader and love trying my hand at new crafts and exploring local coffee shops.

Achieving New Heights: Spring 2026

Looking forward, I will earn my master's in mental health counseling and become a licensed counselor, focused on holistic client well-being. I intend to work with adolescents and young adults, focusing on trauma-informed care. I aim to improve my cultural responsiveness and humility and become more active in advocacy. I will continue to serve my community through volunteering with organizations that work to dismantle systemic inequalities that my clients face as advocating for change has the potential to positively impact clients' lives.

Reflecting: Then to Now

Contrasting my original intention statements with my new ones, I notice considerable personal and professional growth. My learning has gone far beyond the classroom as I took on leadership positions in a philanthropic student organization, studied abroad in the Dominican Republic, took on mentorship roles as a resident assistant, residential mentor, and academic success coach, served as a research assistant in two labs, and was published as a secondary author in 2024. Through these curricular and extra-curricular commitments, I have gained confidence in my professional competence.

When I wrote my original intention statements, I was largely focused on what I hadn't yet achieved and used to view that room for growth as weakness. Now, I view room for growth as just that and I use the strengths I have to develop my areas for growth. I have held true to my values of service, dependability, and balance and found ways to more deeply integrate them into my actions. I have learned to pride myself on more than just my academic accomplishments and have prioritized finding balance in my professional and personal life, allowing me to give increased energy and performance to all my endeavors. I have expanded my network more than my freshman year self could have imagined and formed meaningful connections with professors and community professionals.

Journey Mapping

In addition to intention statements, I also created a journey map, highlighting important events that led me to where I was and goals I wanted to achieve. Below, you'll find the map I made as a freshman. To the right, you'll find an update on those goals, my journey, and some new goals!

Reflecting on My Journey

In my initial journey map, I catalogued my experiences prior to my undergraduate education that led me to pursue a career in psychology and mental health. My goals were quite broad, as I only specifically stated graduating with a bachelor's in psychology, certificate in child abuse and neglect, and an honors designation, and attending graduate school. At the time, I had just started my research involvement and found a couple of ways to get involved in my community (Jagathon, volunteering). I didn't want to set strict goals, because I honestly wasn't sure what would help me explore the different paths to becoming a therapist nor did I want to pigeon-hole myself into certain experiences.

Then

PhD or Master's in clinical psychology
Work exclusively with children
Be active in service on- and off-campus
Get involved in research

Now

Master's in mental health counseling
Work with teens and young adults
Completed over 400 community service hours
Got published as secondary author

Now, I recognize that the freedom my broad goals gave me was important. I will graduate this May with a bachelor's in psychology with an honors designation, but I did drop the certificate in child abuse and neglect. I did so as the classes tended not to fit with my schedule to complete my major courses, and I realized I wanted to be able to have more time for experiential learning through research, on-campus jobs, volunteering, and student organizations. I allowed myself to use those co- and extra-curricular experiences to explore the many paths to becoming a therapist and try working with populations other than kids, since my previous experiences were primarily with young children.

I took on experiences I hadn't thought were possible: studying abroad in the Dominican Republic, getting published as a secondary author on a research publication about pain psychology and dysmenorrhea, completed over 400 hours of community service, and being recognized by Housing and Residence Life, Teacher's Treasures, and the Psychology Department for my accomplishments. My core values and over-arching goals have remained constant. I still aim to become a therapist, but have now solidified a plan to attend a master's program in mental health counseling and obtain counseling licensure.

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