Social Work Application Essay

People who work as social workers help residents who live in their community deal with a variety of intractable issues such as child abuse and drug abuse, instruct them how to obtain and utilize some community resources (such as housing and childcare) and ensure these welfare programs really work well. There are different types of social workers. For example, social workers who specifically work with children and family, those who specifically cope with mental health and substance abuse, and others who work with refugees.

Homelessness is a major problem in the United States. An incredibly vulnerable group is the homeless youth due to their young age and lack of education. According to Edidin, Ganim, Hunter, & Karnik (2012) on any particular night in the United States there are ~2 million homeless youth living on the streets, in shelters, or in other temporary accommodation. Youth become homeless for multiple reasons whether it be because they have aged out of foster care, ran from home, were kicked out of their home, or because they have become homeless along with their family members. Within the umbrella categorization of homeless youth there are high at risk subgroups, common misconceptions, and a serious concern of lack of support and medical services.

Part I (Autobiographical Essay):  What were the significant factors that influenced your choice of social work? What skills and experiences do you have that will contribute to your success as a graduate student and social work professional? How is the GCSW a good place for you to build on those skills? 2 pages, double spaced, 12 point font

Throughout the United States, there are a large number of individuals that goes unnoticed. Hidden in right plain sight, but are overlooked. They can be our friends, family, classmates, or the person standing right next you to at this moment. There are young individuals who are facing the tremendous challenge of being homeless. They are overlooked by many in society. However, there have been countless individuals, groups, organizations dedicated to ending youth homelessness. However, they are confronted with challenges due to the lack of interest. The lack of interest found within society can contribute to barriers to ending youth homelessness.

In Judy Daniels’ article entitled "Humanistic Interventions for Homeless Students: Identifying and Reducing Barriers to Their Personal Development," the author is successful in describing real-life examples of the effects of homelessness on school-aged children. She starts out with the story of Angie, a high school student who lives in a tent with her mother and two siblings. After being caught for fighting with her classmates, Angie is sent to the counselor’s office where she confesses her frustration with her current living situation.

Transitioning to adulthood is a difficult point in time for adolescences under the greatest of conditions. It is an occasion when adolescents are developing their freedom and individuality. These psychological changes influence cognitive processing and behavior. Homeless youth not only have to make new decisions concerning how and where to be in this world but they must also make these decisions when their decision-making and problem-solving skills are still budding (National Alliance to End Homelessness, 2005). Homeless teens need the financial, social, and emotional capital to sufficiently supply for their personal requirements, and this can direct to hazardous consequences. Many homeless youth portray

My journey and my research about youth homelessness has just started. I took this course thinking that it would just be all about statistics and talk about the history of homelessness, but I did not expect it to change my whole world. I’m not even exaggerating when I say this class is AMAZING, if you go to Ryerson and work with any type of vulnerable population, I strongly recommend this course. You will not only learn a lot the current crisis of homelessness, but you will learn a lot about yourself. I strongly stress that you go into the class with an open-mind you will have a lot of guest speakers, who are survivors and it just puts your life into perspective and makes you thankful for everything you have. It makes you recognize your privilege real fast. I’m talking within about 10 minutes of the first class. I didn’t think I could change my viewpoint of so many things in my own life. Homelessness is on the rise throughout the globe, we are the only who can do something about it. People go through struggles all the time, yourself include and think about all the help that you got for either services, your family & friends. Youths who are experiencing homelessness aren’t fortunate enough to have those supports, would you be willing to be the person they turn

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.

I wanted to enter the social work field to help others and to make an impact on people’s lives who may be struggling because of who I am. I am a person that has cerebral palsy and because of this I feel like I have greater life experience because of everything that I have endured growing up. If I can share my story of all the obstacles that I have overcome given the difficult disability that I have I hope it will inspire others to know that nothing is truly impossible. This life experience has allowed me to be able to help people better because it has made me more open minded, sensitive, strong, relatable, and understanding. These life experiences are what made me want to decide to go into the social work field because I want to help people just like I was helped and even more so.

Approximately 1.7 million young people call the streets home every year, children under the age of 18 account for 39% of the homeless population and every year, approximately 5,000 homeless young people will die due to assault, illness, or suicide while trying to survive (Safe Horizon, 2015). Some of these children have families with them, but many do not. Children are vulnerable, but adding homelessness increases risk factors and violence, decreases safety and nearly eliminates advocacy for their health and well-being. Nurses can be excellent community change advocates for homeless youth by seeking them out, making sure they have appropriate clothing, food and water and by assessing their needs and helping them to receive health care.

Thank you for taking the time to meet with me Thursday. I enjoyed our interview and was especially pleased to learn more about the different responsibilities that you have in your career as a Social Worker at Belmont Village Senior Living and also, in the organizations that you are a member of.

Statement of Purpose Growing up I never saw myself pursuing a career in social work, yet with age comes the discovery of true passions, mine being social work. I’ve always thought that social work consisted of people in an office taking kids from their home. Doing research, recommended by Mrs. Wall, I found this to be untrue. Mrs. Wall, a school counselor, and my mentor, occasionally visited my mother’s job and spoke with me about my schooling and career options. I shared with her that I ultimately wanted to help children through counseling and she told me that a social work degree would allow me to do more than just help one child.

No one wants to be homeless and people work hard every day to avoid becoming homeless. Yet, there are plenty of people who are homeless in American. Most homeless people try to blend in with society as if nothing is wrong or they are not homeless and majority of the times they succeed. My participate is an eighteen-year- old Hispanic girl, who has been homeless majority of her lifespan and has recently been diagnosis with ovarian cancer. She has a mother and two younger siblings (notice the children are homeless due to the mother being homeless). Although, the participate is homeless and has health issues she does not allow it to take a negative toll in her daily life. She keeps her appearance up and is also positive, a stranger would not be able to know she was every homeless or having health issues by looking at her. I for one could not believe she was ever homeless once she disclosed the information, because of the way she carries herself. The participate is very kind, humble, intelligent, and has high spirits. This shows how teens could easily become homeless. Once a parent becomes homeless so does their children. Being homeless could destroy an adult mentally or physically, imagine what it could do to a teenager. Homelessness for teens matters just as much as it does for adults.

Personal Statement When choosing Troy University four and half years ago, I was not aware of what God would have in store for me. I began freshman year pursuing a degree in nursing, a far stretch from where I am today. When it came time to declare a major, I knew I wanted to enter into a field that would allow me to live out my passion daily. At the time nursing seemed to be the field that would help others. However, a few semesters later, God showed me that my passion to help others would best be served out in another field.

I realized that a career in social services was the best fit for me when I witnessed the quantifiable benefits of my therapeutic interventions at the micro level. By helping to improve the functionality and well-being of individuals at a social disadvantage, I experienced a unique feeling of satisfaction and gratitude that signaled a deep sense of purpose. I have resolved to pursue a Master of Social Work degree