Focus

So I'm applying to grad programs, which means that I need to clarify for these people what I want to do and what interests me. Therein lies a major problem. In graduate school, you are generally paired with a professor, and, more often than not, you two should have similar interests so the professor can be of a substantial help to you in your research (and vice versa). However, the majority of my interests fall outside of the normal range of interests. I could study how race affects clinical diagnoses, but do I really give much of a damn about that? Maybe I could study how societal constructs of normative behavior affect diagnoses cross-culturally. This is particularly interesting to me, given the former classification of homosexuality and current classfication of transgender identity as psychological conditions in the DSM-IV, but I guess I could also look at the differences in psychotic diagnoses in the context of certain religious practices. I don't know though, because I really want to study the effect of perceived homophobia on rates of depression in black gay male adolescents, but it's difficult to find a professor at a notable university who does such research, cares to be involved with such research, or is willing to help with such work. Sigh, I don't know.