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Social Responsiveness: A Personal Statement

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The week following the presidential election of Donald Trump was particularly difficult for me. Although largely concerned of his fit for office, I was most concerned about how to address his presidency with the Latina students in my after-school program. I worried specifically about how they were handling his election in a county where over 60% of the electorate voted for someone whose primary platforms were mass deportation and wall construction. The Monday following the election, I walked into the classroom intent on ensuring the safety of my Latina mentees only to find that they had found it within themselves. The two girls, who I would later find out were cousins, demonstrated the kind of unconditional love and support that I hoped to …show more content…

Through coursework in Pan-African studies and other diversity-related disciplines, I began to integrate my growing cultural understanding into my scholarship of psychology; often finding myself asking questions to which there were few answers. These questions led me to begin my formal research career as an undergraduate research assistant at the Cooperative for African American Family Excellence (CAFÉ) at the University of Louisville. As a part of CAFÉ, I helped to examine relationships between child and parental anxiety in African American families through test administration (ADIS-IV) and case conceptualization. While conceptualizing one dyad, a child drew my attention. Despite having a mother who endorsed many anxiety-related symptoms, he endorsed none. When we considered what could be responsible for his notable resilience, we discovered that the young boy had been a member of his community football league and cited his coach as a major …show more content…

The program and associated faculty have demonstrated a continued vested interest in the use of research to describe, evaluate, and intervene in diverse communities. Through this exceptionally rigorous program, I hope to gain skills in social policy development, applied participatory research, and community intervention and development. I find my own learning style reflected in the teaching style of the program and look forward to the possibility of acquiring hands-on experience as I advance my theoretical understanding of community psychology and

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