Elevator Pitch - PSfP

Opening

• Hi I’m julia, I study psychology at the uni of Portsmouth

• Im especially interested in the field of child psychology.

• I love being around children and working with them, as i think understanding their needs, feelings and thoughts isn’t just fascinating to me, it’s smthn I’ve been doing for the most part of my life

• As the eldest of 4 siblings supporting the development of children has been a very important part of my life

• Children are the future, and they always will be, which is why we need to nurture them and support them in every way we can

• Which is why I want to build a career where I can help support their development and wellbeing in any way I can

Show

• i want to focus on one experience, as this has taught me the most in many different ways, my several years of babysitting for private families and friends

• I did everything from, making meals, bedtimes, making up games, helping with homework anything that was in the child’s routine rlly

• The biggest thing it taught me is that every child is genuinely different, and prefer diff approaches to certain things, which requires patience and a high attention to detail

• Ive looked after a child with autism, and another with Asperger’s, even though they’re seemingly on a similar spectrum they both needed completely different things from me

• Different routines, different way of explaining things, different kinds of reassurance and different kind of boundaries

• So i learned to adapt to each child, adjusting how I communicated, how i planned activities and how i handled changes instead of expecting one approach to work for all

• From this i learnt flexibility and how to be very creative with my solutions to diff problems

• My babysitting also taught me what building trust actually looks like

• One child i babysat was very attached to his mum and would get rlly upset when she left for work

• At first nothing i did helped much, but i kept turning up, worked out what actually comforted him, what the root of the problem was and overtime he went from crying at the door to happily waving his mum goodbye

• This taught me that consistency is key, building trust with children isn’t instant at all its built through patience, consistency and actually paying attention which i know matters enormously in child psychology

• This job also demanded real responsibility from me and quick thinking

• As one child i looked after had a severe nut allergy, i had to carry an epi pen with me at all times, and i of course had to learn how to use it too

• I managed and carefully planned every meal, every little snack, I researched which ingredients were 100 % safe and checked every single label even if things were already bought and in the house, i double checked always

• I learned to stay calm no matter what and find creative solutions when things went wrong bcs with children they always do

• All of this made me gain confidence in my abilities and attributes, because of this I know I can meet whatever a child needs

Connect

• the reason why all this matters for child psychology is bcs a psychologists work starts with trust

• You can’t even begin to support a child who doesn’t feel safe with you

• They wont confide in you, they wont show you their true colours, so you might scratch the surface, but you wont be able to REALLY help

• Furthermore, you can’t help them if you treat every child the same, bcs everyone’s different adults, teens, especially children

• Babysitting taught me both of these things, now my degree is adding the theory

Look ahead and Closing

• So, here are the steps im taking towards my desired career in the field of child psychology

• I got accepted into a volunteering reading scheme at a primary school this year, so I’m going to be sitting with children one on one as they learn to read and supporting them in their struggles.

• I’m also aiming for a placement year in educational or developmental psychology, so that I can see the field up close rather than only through a textbook

• For me this isn’t about a job title, the reason I keep coming back to children is simple:

• I want to be the person for them, that I needed when I was younger, that’s what I strive for.

• Someone patient, who listens, who makes them feel heard and understood.

• I’m building the experience, I’m building the knowledge, and now I want the chance to use both. Thank you