My interest in the field of Development started long before my education. While serving in the Marines I was able to see differences in maturation, physically, mentally, and socially. It intrigued me when I would see a marine who was barely out adolescence with fully developed bodies but underdeveloped intellectual, emotional and social skills. Alternatively I saw marines who were still maturing physically, but whose emotional, intellectual, and social skills seemed refined. When I left the service after 15 years and began my undergraduate education I observed similar occurrences. Having had one successful career I decided to focus my education on understanding what leads to these offsets in maturity. There are many reasons that I am interested NDSU’s Developmental Science program and I am choosing it because. While researching graduate programs I noticed that there is a good deal of research that focuses on how family and social issues influence adolescent development. Since I hold great value a see great potential in our youth, these topics of research are what interest me the most. During my evaluation of the program I reviewed some of the research that has been conducted by the faculty. One study that caught my attention was Dr. Randall’s (2006) study on prosocial behavior. Since I was young I have always felt a sense …show more content…
Shortly after our move to the Red River valley in 2006 my wife and I decided that this is the area where we will raise a family. I have traveled to every region of the United States, and know people from all over the world. Having those experiences I was able to conclude that the Red River Valley and the surrounding communities not only best fit my ideals of a perfect area, but they also offer the best opportunities for raising my children in a healthy, and safe environment. We have taken advantage of that and now own a small hobby farm where we raise our two