“I'm not smart!” “I can’t do it!” "I suck!" "I'm too dark" My name is Bernard Amofa and I am a first-generation African American student, as both my parents are from Ghana, with middle school being my mom's highest form of education. The opening statements that you just read were some of the negative thoughts that served as the root cause of a severe depression I recently experienced. Thoughts like these also tended to be one of my biggest limitations, as they prevented me from loving and being my true self. It was not until I saw a psychologist who taught me how to deal with these harmful thoughts that I began to see a dramatic difference in my well-being and performance. I am extremely grateful for her service, as it forever changed my life. However, I could not help but ask myself, "What if I knew earlier the falsehood of these thoughts? How different would my life be if I had known how to manage, correct, and use them to my advantage from a young age?" Unfortunately, most people are not educated on how to deal with negative thoughts like insecurities and self-doubt until after they experience some type of mental breakdown. Originally, my goal was to earn a biology degree with the hopes of becoming a pediatrician. However, after discovering the need for our society to understand how to manage and overcome negative thoughts starting at a young age, I decided to switch my major to psychology. Although I only took one psychology course up until this career switch in spring 2021 at El Camino College, I knew I would excel in this major due to having hands-on experience in this field. For example, I received intensive training at Lakewood Healthcare Center while working with mentally ill residents. Also, as a peer mentor in the Extended Opportunity Program and Services, I helped my fellow peers improve their thinking by teaching them about growth mindset and how they can achieve anything through faith and hard work. Now that I am ready to transfer with a 4.00 cumulative GPA throughout my three years at El Camino College, I am confident that this is my calling in life. As a result, I am truly passionate about psychology as I consistently read books, watch videos, and take online courses related to this subject. One book that I read, Atomic Habits, author James Clear states that “We think we need to change our results, but the results are not the problem. What we really need to change are the systems that cause those results." If you look at the mental healthcare system today, most care is reactive or occurs after a mental crisis has occurred. If we want to change and elevate the mental well-being of society, I believe that there should also be more preventive care systems in place. This is my goal as a future psychologist. Although I won't be an educator in a form of a teacher, my plan is to build an educational system that teaches people, especially the youth, how to manage and overcome negative thoughts, insecurities, self-doubt, and other mental limitations. As Lao Tzu once said, "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." I want to teach society how to "fish" when it comes to mental health in hopes of decreasing depression, suicide, lack of self-worth, fear and other mental limitations. Building this educational system is how I plan to positively impact the world as an educator in mental health.

“Change is the end result of all true learning.” There is no better quote that I can think of that summarizes my value of education than this statement by Leo Buscaglia. Buscaglia knew that in order to change anything, you needed education. For how can you make a change without knowing what needs to be changed and how to make that change? You might get tired of me using the word “change” and hoping I change or replace this word with another verb. However, this single word sums up why I need this scholarship; to gain valuable knowledge that will help me change the world through the field of psychology. I believe my calling in life is to make a difference in society as a developmental psychologist. One way I plan to make a difference is by shifting the mindset of society from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. If you are not familiar with these terms, a fixed mindset is a definition that describes a person who views their traits as fixed or something that cannot be developed. I was a victim to this mindset early on in my life. At a young age, I believed I sucked at English and that I was not born to be good at it. Even my girlfriend during sophomore year in High School told me to “stop complaining about your English grades, you suck at it and will never be good at it.” Now this is not something you expect your girlfriend to say and maybe this is why she is currently my ex-girlfriend. However, all jokes aside, I did appreciate what she said as it forever changed my life. Since after that statement, I remember telling myself, “ You know what, I do suck at English BUT, if I put in more effort and believe in myself, I can become good at it,” and that is exactly what I did. I never studied that hard ever in my life for English and as a result, a year later, I received my first A in English. I also managed to go from a 3.67 GPA to a 4.67 GPA in a span of one year! After this amazing accomplishment, I asked myself what happened? Did God all of a sudden give me the brain of Albert Einstein? Shoot I wish! However, I realized there was no need to since the potential to be good at English was always within me. It just bloomed and blossomed when I learned & applied the principles of growth mindset, which states that any trait and skill can be developed through hard work and perseverance. The moment I learned these two terms was the moment my life changed, and that I learned the significant power of education. This scholarship will help me transfer to a four year university in spring 2022, which will allow me to gain more valuable knowlege like this that will help me make a positive change in society as a developmental psychologist!