I am applying to the doctoral program at the University of South Florida because of the strong emphasis on the integration of theory, research, and applied experience; compelling recommendations by my advisors in Albany; and the research being conducted by faculty in the Industrial/Organizational department.  I am particularly interested in the research being conducted on motivation, specifically, prosocial motivation and Organizational Citizenship Behavior.  My career goals are to develop strong research skills, to contribute to the theoretical development of psychology, and eventually to conduct research in an academic or applied setting.  
           There have been several experiences that have also contributed to my decision to pursue graduate education in Industrial/Organizational psychology.  I have been involved in research in several labs, and each of these labs, although situated in various departments, has tied into my ultimate goal of studying motivation and decision making.  During the summer after my freshman year, I picked up research in the lab of Dr. James Jaccard in the social psychology department.  During that summer, I worked on a binge drinking study that was funded by a grant from the NIH.  Through my experiences there, I was responsible for literature searches, interviewing, telephone surveying, using subject pool, interacting with the IRB, and the organization of data.  I also developed an interest and background in decision making and motivation through my work in this study.
       Since I arrived at the University at Albany with many credits, took more credits than average during my freshman year, and had a specific career goal, I decided to graduate a year early.  I applied to the honors program in psychology during my second year of at college.  I am one of six students in the department of 800 psychology majors to be accepted to and finish the program.  During the first semester, the honors students met with faculty to discuss their research interests.  Despite the vast array of research being performed, I was still most attracted to the area of motivation. During the remaining semesters of the program, I will be working closely with a faculty member, which will eventually lead to the composition of my honors thesis and its presentation as a poster.  My original topic was “Emotion recognition and regulation in toddlers with PDD,” but due to a lack of subjects, the topic was changed to “Attribution bias in aggressive adolescent females.”  Although my mentor, Dr. Leslie Halpern, is clinical psychologist, my research topics were representative of my interests in Industrial/Organizational psychology.  Through this lab, I learned how to give a structured clinical interview, choose survey methods, score the Child Behavior Checklist, perform the AGS developmental screening, as well as how to construct a hypothesis, perform a literature review, develop a method, perform data analyses, and write and present a paper.  
       Also during my second year at the University at Albany, I started working with Dr. Marylene Gagne, a professor in the I/O department.  I had wanted to research prosocial motivation in a situation of legitimate power.  After a semester of looking at prior research and designing an experiment, she took a position at another location.  However, I greatly enjoyed time spent working on that proposal.  The time I spent working in collaboration on the experiment allowed me to gain a greater understanding of how to design an experiment, and also provided me with a better understanding of prior research in the area.
       I have some non-research experiences that contributed to my background in motivation.  As an assistant coach for the regional and state level Special Olympics, our practice sessions involved working closely with students with a variety of disabilities.  This helped shaped my desire to pursue I/O because motivation became a large part of each session.  Finding a way to motivate the student was imperative.  Also, as a recruiter for the University at Albany admissions, I am one of only ten students chosen to represent the University.  I was asked to prepare and present seminars to groups of 500 or more potential students, lead question and answer sessions, and also attend luncheons to discuss with parents, guidance counselors, and potential students information about our program.  It was interesting to research what criteria people use to select a University and incorporate the findings into my presentations.  Additionally, I was one of eight students chosen from the Presidential Scholars to be a teaching assistant for an honors class.  I was responsible for preparing lectures, leading discussions, and assigning grades, skills which may be useful in an assistantship.
       In conclusion, my experience working with various professors and my extracurricular responsibilities have helped shape my decision to pursue graduate education in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.  I have enjoyed the challenges of the work and I am eagerly looking forward to training to become a better researcher.  While attending graduate school, I intend to broaden my understanding of theoretical and math models, and would also like to develop a strong background in research methods.  I believe I can achieve these goals at USF.  I have confidence in my abilities and motivation, and feel these qualities will be instrumental to my success in the doctoral program.