Social Justice Personal Statement

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.

The decision to take the clinical route as a second year MSW graduate student, was one that took no hesitation to make. My passion for children and the preservation of families have been a propelling factor in my Social Work career; both academically and professionally. These two entities have motivated me to remain steadfast on the journey to obtaining my MSW so I can continue to be a vessel for children and families who are in need of support and empowerment. The clinical spectrum of social work practice has strengthened my ability to work proficiently with multiple clients and perform well when assisting families in different realms of social work practice. The knowledge gained during my four years as an undergraduate BSW student and

I am interested in the Socially Justice Coordinator position because I want to make sure that various voices are heard around campus. At a predominately white institution, it is very easy for the dominant perspective to be that of a white male, and I want to be a socially conscious coordinator to ensure that the voices of other people don't get muted out by the majority. I have a very personal connection to this goal because I am member of the minority group on campus ,being that I am a black female, so a lot of these issues will hit home for me and draw out my personal passion and commitment. Not only do I want to be a Socially Conscious coordinator to bring to the table some of my own experiences and ideas ,but I also want bring to light the perspective of others that I don't have a lot of have to first-hand experience with, such as members of the LGBTQ+ community, people who suffer from mental health issues ,other minority groups. I believe that it is important to show and represent the perspective of as many people that we can so that the students at the University of Georgia can gain a well-rounded perspective that allows them to be better stewards in this multi-cultural world that we live in. In order to achieve this goal, I will bring to this position my creativity to develop fun, engaging, and beneficial events, my knack of marketing to help spread the word of the socially conscious

The issue that my social justice initiative focused on was gender discrimination against women in sports. You can tell this by the banner I made on my website.

My passion for social justice and accountably led me to pursue a career that involves law and public policy. I seek to learn how to analyze social problems and contribute meaningful solutions. As a Ronald E. McNair Scholar, I have begun working on this skill and would like to build on it and one day apply it in the real world. One of my current research projects as an undergraduate student at the University of Washington concerns the United States economic policies towards Argentina during the Dirty War and their impact on Latin America today. I want to know why certain policies were put in place and what those in power hoped to get out of the new laws.

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.

The most important aspects that I concluded from the readings include: the social justice education project, disproportionate representation of minority students in special education and is common tensions in a pre- and post- Brown v. Board of Education era. The U.S. latina/latino population is rising across the nation however they are not rising in enrollment in higher education (Cammarota, 2007, pg. 87). Certain curriculum known as the Social Justice Education Project (SJEP) has influenced their viewpoints of their ability to graduate high school and attend college (Cammarota, 2007, pg. 88). Students enrolled in this project were Latina/o from working class families (Cammarota, 2007, pg. 89). The project also consisted of 17 students

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.

During my time as an undergraduate, I majored in philosophy but intentionally selected courses that would further my knowledge on my range of interests in social justice and law. As I started to engage and learn about theories of intersectionality, social and structural inequalities and constructs, I grew angry at the world we have created for ourselves to live in. I understood that the injustices imposed on people at the dangerous intersections of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, race, and ability are frequent and widespread. The oppressive forces that have allowed for the creation of such injustices have not only routinely excluded and silenced the voices of many groups of people, but have destroyed countless lives.

If I wasn’t born a leader, my passion for social justice has made me one. I feel a sense of responsibility and moral obligation to help others. This continuously leads me to seek employment or volunteer opportunities in the mental health community. In the past five years, I have gained knowledge and experience in peer support; mental health services and advocacy; geriatrics; abilities; and support for those in the LGBTQ+ community.

It has been proven that often, the fight for social justice and the common good comes at a great cost to those involved. Through writings such as Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and Sophocles’ “Antigone”, as well as, lectures such as Dr.Colbourn’s lecture “Confronting History and the Good Life: Life after Rosewood” it is demonstrated how life, freedom, and a normal everyday life suffer as a cost of fighting for social justice and the common good.

The notion of justice is existence of proper balance of rights and its access under the laws of land. It refers to not depriving any person from availing privileges, opportunities etc. John Rawls writes, "Each person possesses an inviolability founded on justice that even the welfare of society as a whole cannot override"It means that the interaction in a society must be free from any sort of discrimination such as religion, race, color, caste or sex. It ensures fair distribution of assets and equal opportunity. José P. Laurel defines Social Justice as “Social justice is neither communism, nor despotism, nor atomism, nor anarchy, but the humanization of laws and the equalization of social and economic forces by the state so that justice in its rational and objectively secular conception may at least be approximated.”

What is social justice and how does it relate to liberation theology? How do sin, love, grace, and human freedom affect social justice? What restricts freedom and social justice? And how does all of this play a role in the Kingdom of God?

Social sciences and social justice are both based on the structure of rights. Our rights were designed to create equality for all. However, there are always outliers in our justice system and these outliers can be seen by all. My background and demographic are aggressively average growing up in a small, rural community with little diversity which has affected my views about justice. The class Social Problems and Social Injustice has aggressively opened my eyes to new statistics about society and has made some of my intuitions validated and destroyed some of my prior views. My new understanding of social justice is that is was created for all by excluding some. Justice is the structure of our institutions and society.

Social justice is mutually a practice and a goal. The goal of social justice is complete and equal contribution by all people in a society that is equally designed to meet their needs. Social justice allows for all members of society to be physically and psychologically safe and secure. It is a set of values that allow us to understand what is right and wrong in our world regardless of race, culture and economic status. That we take care of those in need of help, so that they can take care of themselves. Social justice allows equal rights and opportunities to everyone in society.