My introduction to Social Work began with an intensely personal experience. Throughout my life, I had problems at home, so I ran away, which resulted in my becoming homeless. For thirty-four years, I struggled with poverty and being a victim of domestic violence. I was fortunate to find a mentor, my social worker who helped me get my life together, change direction, get a job, and secure a home, setting me on a path towards healing my pain. She provided me with regular support and gave me a sense of hope that everything would be fine. I was given a priceless gift, having an advocate that genuinely cared for her client and treated me with the utmost dignity. I was left wanting to do more for the people around me, using my experiences and lessons learned to help others who may be struggling with similar problems.
Now, by helping others, my own struggles will never be in vain. Coupled with this is my intense interest in and desire to understand in greater depth the human mind and spirit. For me, the best avenue for serving the community is by becoming a professional social worker with an MSW Degree, focusing on my passion for improving the lives of those around me. One of the biggest inspirations in my life is my family, particularly my son. He is my rock, keeping me focused and motivated, with an unswerving aim to obtain the finest graduate education possible in Social Work. Completing my MSW will enable me to help improve lives and make them sustainable and fulfilling.
Thanks to my own social worker and mentor, and my enthusiasm for wanting to reach out to others, I began working with youth from different ethnic backgrounds between the ages of twelve and eighteen. They bear the scars of behavioral and emotional problems, physical and sexual abuse, drugs, and alcohol addiction. My primary responsibility at the group home is to serve as a positive role model for these adolescents. I found it upsetting to see these young people making or being forced by circumstance to tak3 wrong turns in life.
The same help that I received from my mentor is the gift that I would like to give back to others, particularly at-risk adolescents. I want to show them that there is a better life and future available if they choose to make the right decisions, to end the downward spiral. As a counselor, I help them foster good decision-making, coping, social, and life skills, tools that they can use to make their lives more productive and positive. Even more than this, I show them that utilizing these tools will lead to more personally fulfilling, independent, safer, and healthier lives.
Many of the adolescents that I worked with attempted to physically assault the people around them, self-mutilated, or threatened to hurt themselves. Faced with these critical situations I would seek out the best clinical approach to help them. I would like to amplify my tool kit to help my clients, especially when they are in crisis, with interventions that are supported by published research. With the MSW Degree I will be able to help individuals from going back into the system or falling further through societal cracks. My own research interests include, but are not limited to, effective ways of preventing members of minority groups from re-entering the social services system, ways to at least slow down the revolving door of perpetual dysfunction.
My desire to help others is a manifestation of my caring heart, and I have found a viable outlet in the form of Social Work. Nothing would bring me more personal, professional, or spiritual satisfaction than to help the poor, the hurt, and those whose lives have dealt them a bad hand, at all costs. I have always lived by the motto do unto others as you would have done unto you and feel that the best way to do this is by furthering the ideal of social justice in the way I live and work. Social justice is the inherent worth and dignity of every person and the right of everyone to be treated with respect. Only when we endeavor to see the world through the eyes of the less fortunate, can we truly empathize with one another. Only when the most vulnerable among us are cared for can we consider ourselves to be a moral and just society. Those who cannot demand social justice for themselves need someone to demand it for them. It is my hope and confidence that by earning the MSW I can be such a voice.
We all form relationships with others during our lifetime, and these relationships can make all the difference and bring an ample measure of fulfillment. Whether these relationships are with our family, friends, or others, it is important to have healthy and productive relationships. The benefits include a higher level of self-esteem and improvements to our mental and emotional health that enrich our lives. The relationships we have with others can benefit us throughout all stages of our life. Through our relationships, we are sustained and motivated by our personal growth and development. Relationships strengthen our bonds with other people and build trust. From this sense of trust, we find that our self-esteem, self-confidence, and our wellbeing are improved. They continue to provide us with the support that we need to grow and handle challenges that we may face soon. It is important for individuals to listen to each other to work through their problems. Relationships inevitably change or evolve over time, a reflection of how we all change as individuals, because of our lived experiences. Having positive relationships with others is essential and so is trust. Trust influences everyone we meet. It affects the quality of every relationship, every communication, and every effort in which we are engaged. As a social worker, I bring my patience and willingness to listen, building the trust that is so integral to healing and the management of our lives.
The individuals whom I want to assist come from diverse races and cultures. Thus, being aware of cultural differences and how they affect behavior, views, ways of thinking and learning, is integral to assisting in a system that is increasingly multicultural given the influx of immigrants into the US social services system. We must respect our differences, irrespective of where people come from geographically or socio-economically, their religious or cultural beliefs, or ethnicity. I come from a diverse background. My father is of African descent and my mother is Mexican.
The county where I was raised in the USA is 80% Hispanic and Latino. We all interacted with one another regardless of our backgrounds. Because of the people I grew up around, I had the opportunity to learn and become fluent in Spanish, a source of pride in my own heritage. I always assumed, wrongly, of course, that anyone who spoke Spanish was of Mexican heritage. I began to learn about the diversity of Spanish speaking individuals and learned that not just people of Mexican background know Spanish, but a multitude of other nationalities. My curiosity about people's backgrounds grew and I frequently asked other Spanish speakers where they were from. One day, there was a family sitting next to us and I overheard one of them, a woman, speaking Spanish, and I immediately assumed she was from Mexico. Turning to ask her where she was from, I was surprised to learn she was from Honduras. In that moment, I learned that if we never ask questions about someone's culture, then we would never learn to recognize their differences and similarities. If more people took the time to inquire about each other, our lives could be enriched.
It pains me greatly when I see individuals whose lives have been turned upside down because of bad choices, often becoming homeless. I can relate to this because I was once homeless and am intimately aware of the ways that many people struggle, I recognize now that sometimes all people need is a little to help to get them back on track. I want to provide these lost souls with the necessary tools and resources that can help them with their lives. The most important part of my plan of action is to set up objectives and goals for everyone, with everyone receiving counseling to help them with their unique needs. For example, a homeless person who was addicted to drugs would need to be first rehabilitated and helped with their addiction. A person who lost their home to financial issues could benefit from financial planning counseling. The plan would also provide them with family contact if they were unable to reach their family members alone. We need to find job opportunities for many of our clients, staying with them until they procure a job.
By working together, social workers in the community, we can help the homeless regain hope and change their lives. We can combine efforts with community resources and provide them with the tools that can change their lives. By encouraging hope and promoting opportunity, we could prove to be the very avenue that launches a generation of people whose lives are changed and improved. I bring with me to the student body and to the Social Work field a keen sense of responsibility, patience, and resolve to achieve my goals and improve myself. I want to be an effective social worker with commitment and enthusiasm for the profession, feeling boundless joy when I see my clients taking the first steps towards recovery, celebrating their joy and accomplishment.
Social Workers must also be good planners, particularly considering the heavy caseloads many are faced with. Thus, good preparation and time management skills are needed, the ability to make/set schedules in a timely manner; I know this is something that I would have to improve upon as far as setting my own schedule. Lastly, I need to hone my existing skills in such areas as conflict management and confrontation.
In addition to being a caring and compassionate person, I am also very patient, highly motivated and a very dedicated learner. The challenges that I have experienced in my life have made me who I am today. When I see a client in a hole they cannot get out of, I will get in the hole with them. I will be able to tell them not to worry, I have been here before, and I know the way out. Therefore, I am motivated to help others function more effectively with their problems by providing them with the necessary tools and resources that can help them within their lives.
MSW Social Work Statement of Purpose Domestic Violence
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