Personal Statement: A Career As A Professional Social Worker

The purpose of social work in the contemporary society is concern for the individual. The function of social work is to help solve problems in human relationships for a better quality of life and to protect them from harm and from harming others which will enhance well-being. I have decided to pursue social work as a profession because I am at the point in my life where I want a sense of fulfilment. I care about people, I want to help others. I want to make the world a better place to live. I want to be the change I want to see. I want to serve the people in society who are physical, mentally, and socially less privileged than I am and make them feel loved and accepted. I will work with all groups of people but I have a strong interest in working with children and people who suffer from mental illnesses and addiction. I am interested in social work because it is a career with lots of flexibility in an ever-changing field allowing me to work in different settings, with different goals and challenges, but with a shared purpose of serving the common good of people.

I began my social work studies over twenty-five years ago at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. I never questioned my decision to pursue a career in social work; I loved my classes and worked hard to learn as much as possible. But the information I gained in undergraduate school simply opened the doors of my education. Most of my learning has come through constant questioning, personal research, and especially through work and life experience. Through these experiences I have encountered the challenges faced by individuals, families, and society and have been able to further access and develop the innate personality traits and abilities that originally led me to study social work as well as learn and practice the many skills necessary to be a successful mental health counselor.

I can see myself having social working as a career for the rest of my life because I like helping people face problems that they can’t face on their own. I love working with children, families, and being able to experience working with others and helping them face obstacles that their facing in their life. One of many reasons I would also enjoy social working as a career would be helping these people overcome obstacles they thought they’d never overcome. While growing up and facing tough situations in life, I always had family and friends there for me which is why I would love to help others and be there for them because it’s a great feeling knowing that you have people there wanting to listen to you and help you through problems.

I can say that being a social worker was never in my plans. I started from Liberal Arts, because I wasn’t decided on my career choice. I took almost all courses, when I got an advice from one of my friends to try Health Information Technology. I gave it a chance and I didn’t realize how time flied by and I graduated. My dream always was to work with children. When I graduated and took my internship, that was the time, when I understood that I made the wrong choice. I needed to search for another career, because I understood, that it would not be what I meant. My father is physical therapist and he gave me and advice to think and to do some research about Social Worker. This time, I did the most research that I could, in order to not repeat my mistake again. I instantly knew, that this what I needed. All over the world, there is and will always be abuse. That’s the reality of it, but now I’m studying for Social Worker here at Lehman College, because I would like to be working toward changing a child’s reality one day, I am changing my knowledge every time I come to class, and changing my life one step at a time. I believe that it all starts with me, and while I may not be able to save the whole world, I will be able to save and help at least small part of it. I currently work in the family practice as a receptionist. My best days are those when I able to help people and provide them with all the information needed. Every day is different.

My passion for helping the vulnerable is one reason I ‘am inspired to become a social worker. I also want to be available to provide support to those who have nowhere else to turn. My experience in social work has taught me to celebrate the small victories towards positive changes. I look forward to gaining the skills and knowledge to aid me in becoming a successful social worker.

One thing that I have always been certain of when it comes to my future is that I want to inspire, help, and have a positive impact on as much people as possible. I want to fight for those that have no voice and create any necessary social change in my community. The field of social work would help me accomplish that. Social work is a broad field where I would be able to work with various populations of people throughout the community ranging from children to the elderly. I believe that by pursuing a master’s degree in social work I will have a sense of deep satisfaction knowing that I will be prepared to face any obstacle in my future as a social worker. I am aware that social work can be challenging but knowing that I will be able to advocate for others that are helpless and fight for social justice will be very rewarding. I first became interested in social work seven years ago, after my aunt and her husband decided to become foster parents, I would help my aunt take care of the children, and they were all very sweet kids that I will never forget. My aunt and her husband were given the opportunity to adopt a 5-year-old girl and shortly after were able to adopt her newborn sister. It was a very joyous day for our family when the adoption was finalized. During that time I met their social worker, she was a very kind and knowledgeable woman that inspired me to pursue a career in social work. I admired how passionate she was about her job and how much she enjoyed making an

Professionally I was tasked with putting the care plans for various individuals into action by helping the people cultivate life skills such as investing money and budgeting skills, assisting them in the development of high levels of independence while aiming at improving their social and communication skills. In one way or another, helping these people led me to develop a great passion for working as a social worker. On a daily basis, I provided steady and continuous emotional support so that the individuals can lead a less stressful life. Besides that, I learned how to communicate well with clients on various sensitive issues that affected them emotionally in the most appropriate and understanding manner. Thus, this job significantly improved my patience, communication skills and my imitative in approaching people I meet in my everyday life. I became more aware of my personal beliefs

For a majority of my life, I wanted to be a pediatrician when I grew up. I had wanted to be a pediatrician due to my passion to work with children, in addition to enhancing the lives of children. As I continued to grow up, I realized that science is not my strong suit and I would never survive medical school. I do not recall how I learned about the profession of social work, but around the eighth grade I have known that social work was the profession that I wanted to pursue. The idea of helping others is what initially struck me as compelling because I did not understand social work in it’s entirety, but I knew that I would relish a life of helping other individuals.

In applying to Arizona State University’s School of Social Work (ASU SSW) Ph.D. program, I aspire to peruse a career as a social work educator. I plan to use this platform and newly acquired skills developed with the university, to advance the field

In my church I am one of the Men Ministry leaders and with my wife and I serve as the Marriage Ministry leaders, providing example to healthy, wholesome marriages. My motivation to be social work is plain and simple, I have a caring and compassionate heart, and I want to make a difference in people's lives. I want to help people realize their potential and help them reach their goals. I believe the experiences I have gained would be a tremendous asset to the Social work community.

Social work is a career that finds and chooses you, rather than you selecting it. Social work has always been an immense portion of my life even when I had no recollection of what social work entailed. My life revolved around so many situations that had a social worker stepped in, my life would be totally different than it is today. Many individuals and agencies lack the compassion and empathy for oppressed people. Having been in many circumstances, has given me the experience and background that influenced me to go into social work, as well as the understanding of my role and responsibilities that I will assume as a professional social worker, and my reasons for selecting the program at ASU School of Social Work and thoughts on how the Mission Statement addresses my career goals.

People enter social care from many different life and backgrounds. For Laura Gomez (real name is kept anonymous), the social worker I interviewed, what motivated her to become a social worker was because she wanted to make a difference to the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in the community by ensuring they get the support to live a better life. Also, the unpredictability of a social work means that social workers are never bored, because they work with all kinds of people in different situations.

After I graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara I was unsure what my next step would be. Of course I was anxious since I did not have experience working nor did I excel in my undergrad studies however, I knew I needed to use my newly earned degree in a positive way. Fast forward, after working for two years, I have gained the skills, knowledge and values from my work experiences that have confirmed my desire to advance my education in the social work field. I currently have my own case load of clients as a case manager at a level 12 group home but it’s time to take the next step forward. I want to ultimately advance social justice and provide services to assist individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.

Starting from being a certified nursing assistant, to becoming a unit secretary for a hospital that specialize in wound care, I have always known that I wanted to help individuals in need. However, I noticed that I was not happy with helping individuals in medical need. It wasn’t until I decided to continue my education that I introduced to the world of social work. Going up with a single mother that suffered from drug abuse, my family depended on social services for a lot of assistance, from everything such as food stamps to family counseling. This life experience helped guide my thoughts on pursuing social work as a career. I know that I want to help individuals that are down on their luck, but I want to take it one step farther, by providing individual counseling to adults that may need more one on one time, than what is normally given from a social service agency. Counseling will also give me a chance to do what I love most and that is to talk and get to know the individuals that I am helping make like changing decisions. Working as a clinical social work has my interest because it does not put limits on what I can do or who I can help, and it will set me up for my future goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker. Being my own boss and changing my community is my dream job, opportunity and goal. I am currently on my way with changing my community and living my dream, because I am currently working for a non-profit

My vision of the social work field is being able to help people in need and being the person that people can look back on and remember as a huge help in time of need. I think my core values and beliefs will help me be an effective social worker and help me succeed in this field. It is in my belief that a person should never be knocked down when they are going through hardships, and rather empowering them. I also believe that not everyone could be a social worker because it takes a certain kind of empathetic and self-aware person. I truly believe that my upbringing has humbled me to understand and not be judgmental of people’s issues since I’ve seen a lot in my short twenty-one years.