Personal Professional Goals

At the time of my graduation, however, I was six months pregnant and knew that I had too much going on to start a master’s program. In the past year, I have spent a lot of time researching different schools and programs. I chose the MFT program at VSU because Marriage and Family therapists can work in a variety of places with people from all walks of life. Of course I am biased towards VSU because it’s where I received my bachelor’s, but after reading about the MFT program, the emphasis on multiple perspectives and diversity sold me on my decision to apply. I come from a very diverse family, some of which have also struggled with many mental health issues. Because of this, appreciation of differences taken on with an open mind is very important to me. After completion of my graduate degree, my goal is to work in a mental health institution for children and adolescents. I have always had a special place in my heart for young children and have worked with an array of ages throughout my time as an undergraduate. Mental health disorders are so easily overlooked, especially in children, so I want to be an advocate for those in need.

My primary professional and personal goal is to remain organized and not stressed even under pressure or during unforeseen setbacks

In December of 2014 I earned an Associates of Science Degree from Moraine Valley College and shortly after I attended Governors State University to pursue a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. My short term goals include completing my bachelor’s degree this May of 2017. Upon graduating I hope to have a job working for the U.S Postal Services in an office position or working for Pace in which I will be transporting elderly people, and those with disabilities.

I often perform face to face entrance assessment of clients who are just coming into our facility. I love being the first person they see because I feel like it is then that they need help the most. Doing these assessments has made me realized how very much I like to be on the front lines of the treatment process. When I obtain my degree from Betty Ford, I would like to pursue opportunities that would put me into a position to give hope to addicts and alcoholics just coming in for help.

While completing my Bachelor of Science degree at Gannon University, I was very enthusiastic about the psychology classes as well as my rotation for mental health nursing. My professors noticed my passion and provided me with many opportunities to care for patients who had extensive amounts of mental health history. I had the opportunity to participate as

I’m a senior majoring in Applied Psychology at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) graduating this May. I am writing to express my interest of working as a Fill-In Domestic Violence Shelter Worker. I’m prusing a masters in clinical psychology counsling at Roosevelt University in the fall. The major of Applied Psychology has given me many hands-on experiences, which corresponded to this position. I took clinical interviewing, which gave me the experience of conducting intake interviews with volunteer participants. This course helped to enhance my skills such as paraphrasing, showing empathy, reflecting feelings, and active listening.

I envision my future career as managing or owning my own rehabilitation center for individuals who suffer alcohol or drug addiction. Upon graduation, I know I must start in an entry level position and work my way to my future position or goal. I would apply for a position in mental health so that I can help individuals whose emotional, psychological, and social well-being are affected by such factors as biological factors, such as genes or brain chemistry. Life traumas or situations including physical or emotional abuse, or family history of mental health problems and to gain the experienced needed to manage or run my own facility or center.

In April of 2014, as a junior at Rutgers, I received an offer to work at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital. This was my first directly clinical occupation and it was the ideal place to study and further my understanding of mental illness and its effect on individuals. At Trenton Psychiatric, I was a Human Services Assistant who was responsible for providing and maintaining a therapeutic environment for all patients. I also assisted with admission, treatment, discharge, and community adjustment in regards to the patients. Working at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital for a year and a half made my love for helping people develop even further. I established genuine relationships with the patients and was fulfilled when they grew towards the recovery they deserved.

I am applying for the Social Work Master's Degree because primarily making a difference in people’s lives is the most important aspect of a future career to me, than any other. By being at your College and qualifying as a social worker, I believe I can achieve this and become a supportive and caring member. While growing up, I have gained some insight into mental health when I looked after my 92 year old great grandmother. All the difficulties and challenges she had with eating and remembering things. I would like to gain further knowledge on this. Another family member had a drug and alcohol addiction and I got to witness how it affected his mental health and his interaction with others. These personal experiences inspired me to further the desire to become a social worker.

Everything in my life that has happened thus far has contributed to the reasons why I am deciding to apply for a master’s degree in Social Work at Loma Linda University. My family’s experiences and circumstances during my childhood would led to social workers to be involved in my life. While I was growing up, my mother struggled with drug addiction to methamphetamine. Until I was thirteen I was raised by my grandma with my three brothers. At 13, my grandmother passed away. My mother was regranted custody of us. These experiences would ultimately impact my long-term career goals. My family struggled and faced adversity however, we overcame our struggles because the system intervened. My relationship with my mom has been my main motivator for pursuing an MSW. Despite her struggles, my mom has been resilient and grown in her recovery. She now has ten years sober from methamphetamine and all other drugs. My relationship with my mom has motivated my career path in many ways. I have seen her change her life incredible ways with the help social services and law enforcement. Her sobriety and involvement in Narcotics Anonymous has played a tremendous role in my life. My choice of pursuing a BSW for my undergrad was reiterated by many experiences I have while growing up in the rooms of Narcotics Anonymous.

When I think of what leads me to pursue a doctorate in public health, I admit that the process has been somewhat convoluted. I began my educational career at the University of Louisville as an undergraduate student with the intention to double major in exercise science and psychology. Somehow as a 17 year old, I knew that physical and mental health were somehow related. Although I eventually dropped my major in exercise science in favor of graduating sooner with my bachelor’s in psychology. Health promotion and maintenance has continued to be a way in which I frame my understanding about the importance and availability of mental health resources. Constantly evolving, my research interests have led me towards public health promotion.

My passion for helping the disadvantaged and helping individuals, families and groups overcome difficult challenges, and troubles in everyday living is what influenced me to choose the field of social work. My personal life experience which involved me helping my parents with my oldest sister who was diagnose summer of 2015, with Schizophrenia, gave me the opportunity to gain insight on mental health and the challenges individuals and families face. For me and my family this was new to us and at first difficult to handle, educating ourselves on the illness and learning about the different treatments allowed me and my family to identify ways to cope, educate my sister on self-help strategies, and help her work toward recovery.

I honed my skills to become a adolescents psychiatrist while earning my psychology degree at Arizona State University, where I will be spending four years putting my academic training to work at the Psychiatric Inpatient Hospital. I believe that I will be ready to help a wide spectrum of students from across the campus community with a

It is my passion that has driven me to peruse a career in Social Work. My father struggled with alcoholism for years. It took his life suddenly in 2010 when I was just sixteen. When he passed, I was not so much sad, but angry. Angry at my Father for choosing alcohol over me, angry with my Mother for never getting us out of the vicious cycle of abuse we were enduring, and angry because I was confused. In the year after his passing, I let my anger transform into passion. I enrolled in college to get answers, to hopefully understand what made him do what he did. In my undergraduate education I began to understand alcoholism as a disease. It wasn’t simple he couldn’t just stop, and it wasn’t simple for my Mother to just move my brother and I away.

When I was little, I was always encouraged to run away from adversity. On the whim of my single mom, I have moved from place to place on pocket change and borrowed money. I have been raised a transient: shifting three hundred miles or three thousand, I have experienced poverty in states across the nation. I have lived with rats in Ohio; I have slept on couches in California; I have had to sacrifice groceries for rent in North Carolina and rent for my mom's breast cancer bills in Georgia. Being homeless for several months of my freshman year of high school, I lived in shabby motels. I feared for my life as a man shattered a window and attacked a woman in the motel room adjoining mine. I ate only what a mini-fridge would hold and wore only what a suitcase could