I was born in our native Nicaragua and remember enough of it to consider myself bicultural as well as bilingual. This is a great asset in California where so many of those who are underserved by our health care systems are recent arrivals who usually speak little to no English. XXU is my first and only choice for graduate school because it is the only CEPH accredited online MPH program in California with an emphasize on Community Health
I finished my undergraduate studies in Biotechnology and since that time, for the past 6 years, I have been busy becoming a crusader for public health, working for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health as an Investigator. Most of my work so far has involved following up with people who have or have been exposed to an STD. The area that I am most passionate about and in which I hope to become a recognized expert in the future, is the teenage mother. Most teenage moms who I have helped with respect to their STD issues are struggling to finish school, many simply give up. I look forward to devoting my life as a health care professional to these especially vulnerable members of our society. In fact, I want to study the entire range of issues associated with teen pregnancy from a public health perspective as part of my MPH Program at XXXX.
Since starting my job, a little over 6 years ago I have been observing with special attention the incredibly sad trend of way too many young girls and women infected with STDs of whom at least 80% are at risk of not finishing high school. My special dream is to help these teen moms, not just with their physical health, but with respect to all their challenges, to empower them and enable them to not fall behind in their education. Most of the girls that I have worked with were acutely unaware of the very existence of STDs, much less how they are related to other health issues, which has pained me, especially because such a high number get re-infected.
I want to study community health and think holistically. From my perspective, failure to finish high school is also a public health issue and concern. Young Latinas, in particular, who for cultural and economic reasons do have a very high rate of teen pregnancy, represent the future of California and we can ill afford to give up on them, allowing them to drop out of school because of a lack of support from the community, thus perpetuating a cycle of teen-mom pregnancies with Latinas often feeling encouraged to have yet more children as single mothers. I see education as the critical factor and the area in which I hope to make my principal mark professionally, as a community health activist and organizer.
I now have 6 years' experience in the public health sector, which demonstrates the great passion that I have for our field. When I first graduated from college, I spent 5 years working for an optometrist and had given some thought to pursuing this area professionally. As I matured, however, I came to realize that my true love was public health, working with the entire community. I have been through the whole H1N1 scare, where I helped and assisted in H1N1 vaccine clinics to get people vaccinated. I have also worked extensively screening for Tuberculosis in schools and homeless shelters. Currently, we are in the middle of the Endo virus and Ebola scare. I look forward to sharing some of our war stories with my colleagues and peers that I meet in your program.
Thank you for your consideration of my application.
MPH Online Personal Purpose Statement, Community Health
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