Personal Statement: Pursuing A Social Work Degree

Completing my master’s degree in social work creates a better opportunity and a brighter career path. I am extremely excited about working in this field. The thought of helping

My intended major is Sociology. Once I earn my degree I intend to find a career in either social work or teaching. In choosing social work my focus will be low income families and programs that decrease social inequality. As a child I yearned for the ability to help people, to change someone’s life for the better and give them back the strength and hope they have lost through life’s battles. I gained this eagerness to provide assistance when my parents brought me to their homeland of Guatemala. Guatemala is a very poor country and I saw the despair and hopelessness of many while others still strived every day to elevate the lives of their family amidst poverty.

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.

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

Growing up I dealt with many forms of abuse, and due to all the trauma I had a lot of built up aggression. Unfortunately, at the time I felt there was no other way to express myself except to act out. As a consequence of my bad behavior, I lost many close friends, and missed many good opportunities. As a result, I was required to go to intensive family therapy for three days a week, with a women named Julie. Fortunately, after therapy I saw a change in myself, and I began to learn new skills to communicate, and cope with my anger. Although, I’ve gone to see many therapists before, Julie was the one counselor that gave me hope, and after meeting her my life has positively changed. This experience of going to family therapy, and meeting Julie has influenced me to want to help other troubled teens who have dealt with abuse.

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

I decided to obtain my Bachelor of Arts degree at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax, N.S. where I double majored in Criminology and Sociology and minored in Psychology. Once I graduated, I still did not know what career path was right for me, so I took a year off. In the meantime, I applied to three Schools of Social Work: Dalhousie University in Halifax, N.S., St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B., and Memorial University in St. John’s, N.L. I spent my gap year working to save up money so I could pay for my next two years of schooling. I decided to apply to schools of social work because I was really interested in my courses that were related to child development and behaviours, interactions between people and society, social inequality and justice, and human rights, which are all relevant to social work.

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.

When I was eighteen I worked for the Williams Lake Association for Community Living and a social worker visited my worksite. I was very curious about her profession and asked her questions about the field. At that moment I wanted to go to school to become a social worker. At twenty-one, I began my journey to get my Bachelors of Social Work; but I was diverted and started a family. As time went by and I matured, my wish to work in an area that allowed me to make an impact on people’s lives and help the vulnerable through a range of different approaches never diminished; social work was an obvious field through which I could develop these skills and passions. When my girls became teenagers, I felt it was time to finish my education and pursued

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.

enough” or “your problems are too big”, because no matter the size my clients want options. I cannot stress enough that no matter what clients are not looking for your answers and it is not my job to give answers, but to give options for a end solution. I have a passion for social work; having passion I hope to be able to encourage others with my work.

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

I chose Social Work over other professions at a very young age. I was 8 years old when I decided I wanted to be a Social Worker. Even when I was 8 years old I could see the difference social workers make in others’ lives. To me social workers make a bigger difference in lives than any other helping profession. We go in and help with the deep issues in others’ lives. We don’t just fix the surfaces problems, we go deep and fix those. Doctors can only fix the issues that the clients come in with, if a child who lives in an abusive home comes in with a bad burn they can only fix the burn and call a hotline. When a social worker goes in and fixes the abusive home problem the child is in and give them a better environment. The doctor is just fixing that burn temporary when social workers are

Every worthwhile journey begins with one step. My social work journey began when I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 2003. I thought my next step would be to immediately pursue a graduate degree. In my undergraduate career I had taken numerous classes from the College of Social and Behavioral Science and had done well in those classes. In my Social Work as a Profession course I had an assignment to shadow a social worker and write a paper about my experience. I chose to shadow my father-in-law, a social worker with over 30 years of experience, and in my paper I expressed my desire to go into the social work field. I knew I liked helping people. I knew I liked problem solving and critical thinking. I thought my 22 year-old self was ready to embark on that journey, but I wasn’t. I realize now that what I lacked at graduation was one crucial step… perspective. Over the past twelve years I have gained that much needed perspective and have taken many steps forward in my journey, and with those steps and that increased perspective, I now feel more fully prepared to begin my social work career.