The personal statement is valuable when enrolling in any course, as it provides an opportunity to realize several aspects at once. Firstly, it helps to determine the issues, topics, and methodologies that are of the most significant interest to the future participant. Moreover, it contributes to the formation of short and long-term goals that will help to properly and consciously relate to the learning process. Thirdly, writing a personal statement assists in outlining the reasons for choosing the program. The last valuable aspect is providing an opportunity to determine strengths or weaknesses in an individual’s record.
I am a sociology major, and the field of criminological science is of particular interest to me. This is since I am fascinated by how it is connected with society and I am curious about the questions about what political, social, and economic processes determine the course of its development and formation depending on time. Other issues that interest me in this area are social relations between people, concepts of social inequality, and the causes of its occurrence. In addition, I believe that studying this area is necessary to transform the situation in the world and achieve equality.
The scientific field of criminology has many topics that are of interest for a more detailed study. Henceforth, it may be the influence of society on the formation of deviant behavior, especially close environment, such as family and friends. Moreover, it may concern the effect of inequality and discrimination on the increase in criminal activity in the world. It is worth noting that these topics are the most intriguing for me since I believe that they are obvious problems of our time. Deepening research in this area can help spread awareness in society and can become a driver for the introduction of changes.
Further, it is necessary to consider the methodologies that are most interesting to me within the framework of this program. There are many different ways to collect information for research and study. Methods of obtaining data are divided into qualitative and quantitative and are used depending on the goals and objectives of the research. For me, the most exciting is the survey methods. This is due to the fact that this tool helps to interact directly with its participants, which will help to find the most valuable and reliable information. It is important to emphasize that these benefits are provided only when conducting an in-person survey. It is worth noting that I prefer and am interested in qualitative research methods. I believe that this method of collecting information and data provides tremendous importance, although it can be pretty voluminous for analysis.
The next aspect that needs to be considered in this work is short- and long-term goals, which I expect to achieve with this program. Therefore, my main long-term goal is to make a positive contribution to the development of criminology as a science. I strive to conduct research in the future, which will provide more insight into the problem of deviant behavior and the influence of society on it and will suggest ways to spread awareness about it. Among the short-term goals, gaining knowledge about criminological phenomena and concepts and learning how to structure and use the information correctly.
The main reason why I decided to apply to the major in criminology is the desire to continue studying sociology since I already have a sociology major. I can say that I fit with the departmental areas of specialization that are provided by the curriculum. While studying, my interest in sociology increased, thereby motivating me to further study this topic. In addition, I believe that sociology and criminology are related and many correlations can be found that help to understand the concepts of both sciences.
The last but no less essential aspect to consider is the consideration of particular strengths or weaknesses in my record. Thus, I believe that my main weakness is the complexity of online learning. Hence, I had a hard time with my classes during the quarantine period since the COVID-19 started, when educational organizations had to switch from in-person to online, which took a significant toll on my grades. I believe that face-to-face learning is more effective and productive since, in this way, the process of memorizing information is much better. I consider my strengths to be a great desire for learning and learning new information. Moreover, I like to read books and often read both fictional and non-fictional literature. Another area of my interest is conducting research. So, I treat this process very responsibly and in an organized manner, which helps me achieve most of my goals.
Therefore, this personal statement provides the necessary information about me to enroll in the selected program. It takes into account my weaknesses and strengths as a student. In addition, I consider the importance of studying sociology as a science and the reasons why I am interested in learning. Hence, I am interested in a lot of topics in this area, such as inequality, and social influence on criminal behavior. In addition, I believe that such a method of data collection as a social survey is the most effective in conducting a criminal study. This is since in this science, it is crucial to find out the exact opinion of people about the researched problem.