Autobiographical Psychosocial History Essay
Marquita Johnson
Psychology 201
September 15, 2013
Karen Wilson

The five concepts that I have chosen to discuss throughout my paper are: meditation, motivation, information processing, coping with stress, and parenting styles.

The first concept, meditation has worked for me very well since I have learned about it. I have done so much research on different meditation techniques people use to relieve stress and deal with everyday life, and I found one that just works for me, it is called Transcendental Meditation. This type of meditation just requires you to sit in a room quietly and think of all the things that have bothered you throughout the day, and just clear them from your mind. I was surprised the first time I tried it because it worked, and I felt a sense of peace within myself. Meditation has also served as motivation for me to get through the work week, and also through the day.
Motivation has always been something I have always had with my family. At times, my family is the biggest push I have to do better in life. They always tell me to do my best, but be better than what they are. I understand that, but sometimes it gets hard. I have this one aunt that no matter what the situation is, she always speaks of it in a positive light, and lets me know that failure is not an option for us. She is going to school to be a chef at the age of 45, and that is enough motivation for me. I feel it is enough motivation because it inspires me to go for my dream, and no matter how old you get, your dreams are still attainable as long as the information you are being taught is processed correctly, then there is no reason to fall off.
Information processing is a very interesting topic to talk about. This topic is interesting because not everybody can process and understand information at the same rate, some take a little longer. I have learned over the years through my course of studying that if you want to obtain information, write down notes that you understand, and make them relatable to what you are studying. I also was taught that when you study, do not try to cram everything in all at once, study a chapter for 30 minutes and then take a break for 10-15 minutes to allow the information you just read to process. I know at times we all tend to try to cram things in right before a test, but honestly, cramming information has made me fail many tests because the information did not stick. I could recall a time when I had to study pharmacy math, I tried to cram some formulas in right before the test and I literally got a 15% on it. I went to tutoring for a month and got the formulas down, and the night before I had a test, I went over what I learned in class and tutoring, and I literally dreamed about math problems. That following morning, I aced the test and passed with a very high score. Tutoring was my way of coping with stress from math because I could not afford to fail.
Being able to cope with stress is something that I am currently learning to do. I have had learn different ways to cope with stress. I was always the type of person that could not deal with things being out of my control. I used to hate not being able to fix things or being able to postpone different situations. I used to find myself in tears all the time when things were out of rotation. I am just now learning to cope with stress because it was something that I never had to deal with on my own, I always had my mother or father around to make things right. One technique that I am using to help me deal with stress is that if I can fix it, then do so, but of not, then not to worry about it. At first, this did not make sense to me because I tried to fix everything, but now I am starting to understand it and incorporate it into my parenting style.
We were all raised with different parenting styles, and now as a parent myself, I am starting to see some of the styles my parents used with me, showing up in the way I am raising my daughter. It is a little hard to explain my parent’s parenting style because they were not to strict, but they did not let us get away with too much, either. My mom and dad were the type of parents that told you how it was without sugar-coating anything. They also let us make our own decisions, and let us know that every decision had a consequence. Since my daughter is still small and learning, I know I might be the same type of parent my parents were to me, but I may add my own style in there as well. I think it is kind of hard to not use some of the same techniques our parents used with us, because that is the only thing we know, being a parent does not come with a handbook, so you have to learn as you go.