Mastering communication by Couper

Mastering communication by Couper - April 2026 Scholarship Essay

The skill that I hope to master in the next few years is mastering my communication skills. The reason that I choose this as my skill, is because of the line of work that I will be going into after completing my degree. The line of work that I am going into involves me becoming a psychiatrist for adults, children, or both and having good communication skills would be extremely helpful in diving deeper into the problems (physically or mentally) that my patients may have.
Not only do I want to be a psychiatrist I also see myself attending conferences such as Ted talks to better expand my horizons and my knowledge as a psychiatrist. In doing so I hope to someday speak at said conferences. Mastering communications would be essential in furthering my career goals.
Mastering communications skills is essential in psychiatry because so much of the job depends on building trust and making safe shared decisions under emotional conditions. With these good communication skills I could build rapport with my clients in doing so it could build better understanding and honesty. It can also help to find urgency in certain situations.
Personally, I had a tough childhood, with my father leaving when I was young, my stepfather beating on my mother, and even my mother being taken away from me for months at a time. All of this led to me going into a mental hospital for a multitude of months due to suicide ideation and the near act of taking my own life due to the stress and hate that brewed within me. I was unaware that I was depressed and thought everything that happened was due to my own arrogance. After going through all of that and getting all the help that I needed I came out a much better teenager which in turn has made me grow to be the man that I am today, because of this I wanted to become a psychiatrist and help others the way I was helped. There are many other essential skills that I will need to learn as well but all in all I believe that mastering communication will be one of the most important.
I plan to develop this skill by putting myself into situations that require some sort of communication between me and others. I have been known to keep to myself a lot and even close myself off from others. It’s not that I don’t want to talk, it's more that I like my own space. In doing so I would be more comfortable approaching those in need of my assistance as a psychiatrist. While putting myself in these situations, I will be deliberately practicing listening, responding to emotions, and how I will structure my questions towards the other person; to name a few.
Mastering communication skills is essential in a psychiatrist’s role. When the communication is strong, the patient feels heard and more likely to provide accurate information. They will more likely follow through with treatment and understand the plan that we would set out to make together. In the end, this would ultimately improve the outcome and safety of any situation with my future patients.