My passion for helping and supporting those whose economic and financial standings have hindered their growth in our society, has driven me towards social work. I feel I have exhausted every possible avenue in my current degree field. Pursuing a master’s in Social Work, will give me the diversity that I need, while aiding me in bringing my dreams of working more in depth with clients, by helping assist them with their individual needs and issues to reality. The Social work field also offers versatility which allows me to work in many dimensions, such as clinical, case management, and many other composites which enables me to help every population. Becoming a social worker gives me other benchmarks in which I can use to evaluate programs,
Autobiographical Statement Social work is important to me because I see there are a lot of problems both systemic and with individual people that need to be addressed through research and clinical work. I want to spend my life working on improving services and quality of life of foster children and their families, supporting the grief and loss process with cultural sensitivity, working to reduce negative prejudice and discrimination, especially when it holds people back from living out their full potential, and understanding and providing needed resources to people who struggle with mental health and disability through evidenced based practice and scientific work. I want to provide services whether that be individually, in the community or
On September 21, 2015, I met with Ms. Katie, a student in the MSW program at NCSU, to conduct an interview. We met at Starbucks in Cary, in the crossroads shopping center. Ms. Katie’s responses helped me learn and think about social workers in the child welfare social field. As a prospective social worker, my questions were formed based thoughts that I have concerning my responsibilities in the social work field.. Before going into further details, I first asked Ms. Katie to tell me about herself.
This university offers a school of social work and ties at 17th place with other colleges in the United States for this major (Freshman Class Profile). The acceptance rate is 66% and the average GPA of students is 3.21-3.71. In this particular school, one of the three of their main overarching goals is to “Foster professional development, socialization, and identification with social work through an approach that links reflective practice, self-awareness, and ethical decision making which promotes the importance of continuing education and life-long learning.” (BSW Student Handbook). This specific program goal stands out because it captures the essence of what studying social work will be like at UIUC and the sort of growth that will take place as students learn and foster their inner passion for social work.
As a single mother who has confronted poverty, I am committed to reforming community intervention and advocacy practices. I have a particular interest in improving the accessibility and funding of offering all services under one umbrella within orphanages’. As a result of my own experiences, I am familiar with the despair and frustration endemic to individuals struggling to survive. I am convinced that increasing individuals' access to services that are representative of a community showing family resemblance can make the difference between despondency and hope. I am applying for my masters in social work so that I can pursue my life-mission: to establish successful orphanages’ that present a family resemblance with umbrella services across
Social work was introduced to me when I began my college career at Tidewater Community College. I want to be in a profession that allowed me to have a voice, and to become influential. My passion in life has always been to help other. I love seeing the smile on a person’s face when I make a difference in their life. I believe social work is my calling, and I am ready to start my career and change the lives of others. With my course level work, and the guidance of my professors who taught their bachelors students at a master’s level. I am more than prepared to take on VCU’s M.S.W program.
My need to feel self-actualized drove me to study social care practice, allowing me to develop knowledge and interpersonal skills that will qualify me to become social care practitioner. (Cited in Charleton, M. 2014 p.
“The profession of social work originated as the advocating voice for the vulnerable and oppressed in society, and its purpose is to improve social conditions for those persons (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2003;Basically stating that our mission was founded on social change and social justice. Whether our career paths leads us towards practicing in the micro, mezzo, or macro level, social justice and social change will always be at the fore front. When one decides to become a social worker it is because you want to be that voice for a person or group that is in need of some type of help. Our role as a social worker is to be about creating a social change and social in oppressed cultures or lobbying for their rights as
Oprah Winfrey points out that “Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do”. Consequently, her words have been my thoughts in the last couple months as I have realized the purpose of my doing in life as a school social worker. At this point of my career, I have realized my doing in life is to give back to those who are vulnerable and are in need of help which is one of the reasons why I have decided to pursue my Master Degree of Social Work. Typically, some characteristics that a social worker should have are empathy, courage, respect for diversity, and being ethical and flexible.
They also assume responsibility for the development, implementation, and management of social services that they provide. The social work profession employs the world with skilled workers that use the tools and resources available to them to advance the lives of others. Individuals in this career field are capable of ethical decision making and are advocates for positive social change for the oppressed
Modern social workers are frequently tasked with certain objectives by their agencies, which leave little room for any work beyond specific treatments and timeframes (Gitterman & Knight, 2016). Although social workers are bound to the set of ethics put forth by the NASW, practitioners are often limited to focusing on the issues of the individual rather than the larger societal issues that may be behind those concerns. Additionally, many social work students end up working in direct practice, rather than macro work. There is a need for social workers to engage at the macro level in order to facilitate community organization and empowerment. Critics suggest this theory may not take into account the unique experiences of each individual and perhaps key characteristics of the individual or group are not taken into consideration (Sadan, 1997).
Alston, M. & McKinnon, J. (2005). Social work: Fields of practice. South Melbourne, Vic: Oxford University Press. Gottman, J. M. & Gottman, J. S. (2007).
After retiring from the military, I vowed to earn a degree in Psychology to understand struggles in the human thought process. My current education has better equipped me to understand the challenges and need for social structures to provide support, guidance, and opportunities to those who are systemically disenfranchised. A graduate degree in Social Work will equip me with the skills necessary to change lives. As with professional experiences in the United States Marine Corps, I am determine to be
This lack of meticulosity is often caused by the heavy workload placed upon social workers. Overworked and underpaid, many social workers are driven to quit their jobs, leading to the profession’s turnover rate reaching numbers higher than twenty percent. Assuming that a monetary insufficiency is the impediment keeping the current system from paying their social workers enough for their work and, consequently, from being as thorough as possible in where they place these children, my program will have the substantial funding to back these necessities up. My program will also offer services to children aging out of the system so that they can grow to be successful adults rather than end up in the same damaging environments that they are aging out of. Personal advisors and partnerships with workplaces and colleges can make a significant difference in the life of someone who has no one to turn to for guidance or
Plater Personal Statement When I was a Community Service Scholar, I took a class called the Psychology of Giving (PHST-P330) that was attached to the position. The whole class was centered on how we can combine our personalities, educational achievements, and civic service experiences to become a civic minded graduate and then after graduation become a civic minded professional when we have acquired the job we aspire to. Prior to the class, I had not realized that there was such a concept. But as Jennifer Halford introduced and explain the theory of the civil-minded graduate, I could no longer see myself not being one.