Why Psychology?

Recently, few people have asked me why I chose Psychology major. I had to think back and to my Freshman year. I started BYU as a Physics major but didn't take any Physics classes. I liked Physics in high school. It's a very interesting subject and I could apply these concepts in real life. However, as I thought more about it, I didn't want to do all these calculations and try to understand different conceptual things of matter. Then I had few chances to experience what it's like to be a listener of people who complain, have troubles, have issues, have no one else to talk to, etc. Even though I have never met them in real life (it's kind of a long story), I felt good to be a part of someone's life and be confided in. So I decided that my path was with Psychology. 'I want to help people,' I thought.

Beginning of this semester, a teacher I respect and admire told his class that Psychology majors chose to study Psychology because a) they want to "help" people and b) they are crazy. He was right. I wanted to help others and I am in a way crazy. Do you talk to yourself? I do. Do you get depressed for no reason? I do. Have you ever thought about killing yourself? I have. Have you thought about some alternate universe? I have.    Am I normal? YES. (You don't need to agree with me on that.)

Anyways, that's not the point. The point is that I wanted something different than "I want to help people" as my reason to study Psychology. Almost everybody wants to help people so saying "I want to help people" doesn't mean a squat. Today, I realized why I want to become a psychologist. Do you have people to whom you go to talk about everything? You can open up to? You can confide in? Well, I don't. It's not my parents, it's not my brother, it's not my roommates, it's no one. The reason why I want to become a psychologist is so that other people will have someone to talk to, someone to lay their burdens on, someone who would listen, someone to trust... That's why I study Psychology. That's why I am pursuing Psychology.