Prompt:

we require that you complete a 3-5 page Personal Statement for the Social Work Program, which covers the following: motivation for being a social worker, values and beliefs regarding social work, experience and diversity, qualities the applicant brings to the profession, personal qualities in leadership and creativity, and professional goals. Try give us a good picture of who you are and what you see yourself becoming, as we will have already read your transcript material by then, so please write beyond what we can interpret from the factual and numerical data.

Revised Statement



“There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”  I recently came across this quote by Audre Lorde and feel it summarizes my attitude toward social work as a profession.  The unique person-in-environment perspective social work uses allows me to take a holistic approach in working with clients that acknowledges the variety of issues and pressures they face each day.  As I pursue my Masters of Social Work this quote will serve as a reminder of the complexity of people’s situations and necessity of advocating for social justice issues.

My motivation for pursuing social work has manifested itself in a multitude of facets and interests throughout my educational and professional career, but I believe what strings this seemingly random and scattered collection of interests together is helping other people realize their strengths and make positive changes in their lives.  Initially I pursued my undergraduate degree after reading about various issues plaguing the continent of Africa and felt called to help right the social injustices that have beleaguered many African countries for years.  While in pursuit of my degree, I completed my volunteer hours at various homeless shelters around the area and found myself engrossed in the stories and struggles many of the residents shared regarding the multitude of issues that led them to their current situation but felt powerless to make a significant impact.

            As graduation drew closer, I found my motivation shifting to more macro-level work.  I realized that my passion lied more with communities than individuals and I completed an internship with Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority to explore that interest and learn more about public housing.  I facilitated a craft group for the residents of Pioneer Manor, a property dedicated to housing the elderly, during my internship that promoted community and provided an informal way to assess residents’ health and wellbeing.  The group was established before my internship, but gave me the opportunity to meet a variety of residents and become familiar with their culture.  I was able to advocate for the residents at meetings with building and organization supervisors to ensure their needs would continue to be met and their environment would remain unchanged during upcoming renovations.

Following graduation I served two years in the Community HealthCorps in Nashville, TN, as an outreach worker focusing on diabetes management.  My service years and subsequent employment provided me the opportunity to work with people of diverse backgrounds and also an in-depth look at the inefficiencies and inequalities that plague our healthcare industry.  Navigating the healthcare system for an undocumented immigrant was never easy.  I spent many hours translating forms for patients that were not available in Spanish and struggled to find facilities for referrals that employed Spanish-speaking staff.  Procuring affordable medication was another big hurdle; many assistance programs do not serve undocumented immigrants.  These inefficiencies are my motivation for pursuing my MSW; by furthering my education I hope to pursue work advocating for large-scale social policy changes to healthcare and immigration reform.

            During my adolescence I enjoyed participating in clubs and groups dedicated to community service and felt a passion for helping people make improvements in my community. When I read the NASW Code of Ethics for the first I felt it mirrored my feelings on my past volunteer experiences and knew I made the correct choice in pursuing social work as a career.  During my undergraduate studies, I spent time working for Lutheran Social Services in Attendant Care, an alternative to jailing program for youth.  It was through my employment there that I learned to value the importance of human relationships.

            Attendant Care provided care to juveniles for up to 48 hours after their offense in a small room connected to the Juvenile Detention Center.  Many times staff worked alone with juveniles for 12 hours at a time, which provided ample time to talk about various issues in their lives and the daily schedule set aside time to discuss goal setting and home life, which I found to be my favorite part of the position.  Working with the kids to determine and set goals for after their release allowed them an opportunity to discuss what they felt was important in their life and opened avenues for discussion in a judgment-free way.  As someone who is genuinely interested in helping people succeed, I found I was a natural at helping people define goals and the steps they needed to take to reach them.  This is something I have continued to use in my practice as a case manager and feel it is the most effective tool to build trust in a working relationship with clients.

            Social justice is not only a central value of the social work profession, but also something about which I am personally passionate.  Through my work as a case manager at a clinic, I have become increasingly aware of disparities in access and quality of care for the uninsured and I feel that in a country as wealthy and powerful as the United States, it is unacceptable.  Over the course of three years working with one patient, Mr. Nuila, I have been able to connect a story to this issue.  When I first met Mr. Nuila he had been laid off from his job as a restaurant manager and was working part-time at McDonalds.  He was ineligible for company health insurance, made too much money to qualify for Medicaid, and could not afford to see his primary care doctor.  Mr. Nuila came to me to find help paying for his insulin and I worked tirelessly to connect him to resources that could provide assistance.  I felt a surge of accomplishment when Mr. Nuila began receiving affordable care at the clinic and was accepted into an assistance program to cover the cost of his medication.

Diversity has been a large and profoundly shaping influence on my life both personally and professionally for many years.  As an undergraduate, I minored in Spanish and was fortunate to visit two Spanish-speaking countries.  My studies and travels afforded me the opportunity to learn about cultural and social norms and gave me a broad basis to use in my work to provide culturally competent services to patients.  In Hispanic culture it is not uncommon for children to care for their aging parents.  One of my patients, Ms. Altamirano, a 50 year old Hispanic woman, was living with her daughter and her family for the past year after emigrating from Mexico due to failing health.  Ms. Altamirano’s daughter accompanied her to appointments, handled her medication and testing regimen, and supported her financially by working extra hours at her job.  I was able to use my knowledge of Hispanic culture to create a plan for managing Ms. Altamirano’s blood sugar levels that took into account her connection to Mexican cuisine, her familial structure, and the family’s tight budget.  Both the patient and her family were very grateful for my cultural competency and seeing my patient succeed solidified my choice to work with undocumented immigrants.

The decision to pursue my Masters degree has given me time to reflect on not only my motivation for furthering my education, but also my past experiences and personal growth.  As my GPA shows, I struggled in the beginning as an undergraduate; I did not take my coursework seriously and was ill-prepared to balance work and school.  I was placed on academic probation and used that time to re-evaluate my goals.  I returned the following semester with renewed purpose and determination to succeed; I took a smaller course load, reduced my work hours, and passed all of my classes with a 3.0!  I found that actively engaging in my classes and assignments caused me to flourish and my GPA increased each semester until graduation.  The determination I demonstrated then and in subsequent semesters is a quality I have carried forward both personally and professionally. I developed better time management skills by breaking down large projects into manageable tasks and have found success with prioritizing obligations in a professional setting.

Communication is not only a skill attributed to good leadership, it is also central to an effective social work relationship. It has been my experience that communicating effectively with my patients is the most important part of my job, especially those who are illiterate.  Last year, I had an illiterate participant in a nutrition class I taught for pre-diabetics and I used a variety of audio and visual aids to tailor lessons for her.  While it presented challenges, I was able to be creative in asking her to take pictures of her meals to discuss at classes.  This empowered the patient to take control of her diet and gave me an opportunity to accurately evaluate her food choices.

My professional goals seem to be an ever-changing list filled with causes and injustices that desperately need advocating.  As I stated, my passion lies in macro-level work and I hope after completing my Masters that I find work advocating for healthcare or immigration policy reform.  I also have an interest in non-profit management or returning to work for a housing agency.  Overall, my most important professional goal is to become a well-educated, competent social worker and I know that by pursuing my Masters degree, I am one step closer to achieving that goal.



Here she is!

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I believe most social workers and people in helping professions would say they felt called or drawn to the work they are doing and I am no different.  For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a helper; working with people to improve their lives and achieve goals has been and continues to be the passion of my life.  While the road that has led me to the decision to pursue my Masters degree has been full of twists and turns, the theme that stands out to me is helping.  Whether working with the homeless or with delinquent youth, in North Dakota or Tennessee, I strive to be a support and advocate for those seeking to change their lives and feel that by working towards my Masters of Social Work I will be better qualified and able to continue to serve those in need.

My motivation for pursuing social work has manifested itself in a multitude of facets and interests throughout my educational and professional career, but I believe what strings these seemingly random and scattered ideas together is helping other people realize their strengths and make positive changes in their lives.  Initially I pursued my undergraduate degree after reading about various issues plaguing the continent of Africa and felt called to help right the social injustices that have beleaguered many African countries for years.  While in pursuit of my degree, I found myself completing my volunteer hours at various homeless shelters around the area and coincidentally found myself engrossed in the stories and struggles many of the residents shared with me regarding the multitude of issues that led them to their current situation.

            As graduation drew nearer, I found my motivation shifting to more macro-level approach.  I realized through my undergraduate years that my passion lied more with communities than individuals and because of that, I completed an internship with Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority that focused on reaching neighborhoods of public housing residents and working to build community and connections to existing services.  Following graduation I served two years in the Community HealthCorps, a branch of AmeriCorps State/National, in Nashville, TN, as an outreach worker focusing on diabetes management.  My service years and subsequent employment provided me the opportunity to work with people of diverse backgrounds and also an in-depth look at the inefficiencies that often plague non-profits, government, and aid programs.  Those inefficiencies are my motivation for pursuing my MSW; by furthering my education I hope to pursue work advocating for large-scale social policy changes to government and non-profit programs.

            When I read the NASW Code of Ethics for the first time, I realized I had made the perfect choice in my future profession.  I had spent a large part of my adolescence in clubs and groups dedicated to volunteer projects and community service and wasn’t aware at that point that a career existed that would allow me to continue that work and even pay me for it!  During my undergraduate studies, I spent time working for Lutheran Social Services in Attendant Care, an alternative to jailing program for minors.  It was through my employment there that I learned to value the importance of human relationships in regard to social work.

            Attendant Care provided care to juveniles for up to 48 hours after their offense in a small room connected to the Juvenile Detention Center in Fargo, ND.  Many times staff worked alone with juveniles for 12 hours at a time, which provided ample time to talk about various issues in their lives and the daily schedule set aside time to discuss goal setting and home life, which I found to be my favorite part of the position.  Working with the kids to determine and set goals for after their release allowed them an opportunity to discuss what they felt was important in their life and opened avenues for discussion in a judgment-free way.  This is something I have continued to use in my practice as a case manager and feel it is the most effective tool to build trust in a working relationship with clients.  Additionally, I feel these experiences are something that will continue to inspire and motivate me as I move toward a more macro-level practice.

            Social justice is not only a central value of the social work profession, but also something about which I am personally passionate.  In my work as a case manager at clinic that provides medical care to the uninsured, I have become increasingly aware of the disparities in access to and quality of care provided to those without insurance or ability to pay and feel that in a country as wealthy and powerful as the United States, it is unacceptable.  I have witnessed hundreds of patients go without the care and medications they desperately need due to cost of treatment or low health literacy.  Throughout my work at United Neighborhood Health Services I have been able to connect many patients, especially undocumented immigrants; to various assistance programs that provide the medications they need as well as work one-on-one with diabetics to increase their understanding of how to manage their disease. 

This work has been an incredible way to gain experience in promoting social change and equal opportunity for individuals, but has also provided me a basis of knowledge to carry forward to macro-level work; in my new role as an Outreach and Enrollment Counselor for the Affordable Care Act, I will now work to promote access to health insurance and medical care via the Marketplace and seek to increase health literacy among communities.  It is my belief that by furthering my education I will gain more experience and the skills necessary to continue to strive for equal access and quality of medical care for all citizens.

 My experiences with diversity have been a very large and profoundly shaping influence on my life both personally and professionally for many years.  Before I began my career, I studied Spanish at the collegiate level and was fortunate enough to visit two Spanish-speaking countries.  My studies and travels afforded me the opportunity to learn about cultural and social norms and have given me a broad basis to use in my professional work to provide culturally competent assessments and treatment plans for patients.  I have found that communicating in a patient’s native language has also allowed me to build rapport and trust in working relationship in a way that a non-Spanish speaker cannot. 

Of course diversity isn’t dependent upon language and in the three years I spent as a case manager in Nashville, my average client was an African American diabetic roughly 20 years my senior who lived on less than $10,000 a year.  In the beginning, it was difficult and challenging to establish trust in my working relationships with clients due to these and a host of other differences because I lacked exposure and experience in working with a client so wildly different from me.  I spent a lot of time talking to my supervisor and researching best practices for working with diverse client populations over the first few months and I am now confident in my ability to establish rapport and empathize with a variety of populations.

The decision to pursue my Masters degree has given me to spend time reflecting on not only my motivation for furthering my education, but also my past experiences.  As my GPA shows, I struggled in the beginning as an undergraduate; I did not take my coursework seriously and was ill-prepared to balance work and school.  I was placed on academic probation and used that time to re-evaluate my goals.  I returned the following semester with renewed purpose and determination to success; I took a smaller course load, reduced my work hours, and passed all of my classes with a 3.0 GPA!  The determination I demonstrated then and in subsequent semesters is a quality I have carried forward both personally and professionally; I have developed better time management skills and have found success with prioritizing obligations in a professional setting.   

Even before pursuing social work as a career, I was typically the person my friends came to when they needed advice or to discuss a problem.  I learned through that time that being an active listener is one of greatest strengths and a quality I use both personally and professionally.  I found that by using active listening, I am able to get a better understanding of what is going on in people’s lives and also help them clarify their thoughts and feelings about various issues.  Additionally, being an active listener provides me an opportunity to empathize with people; by truly understanding and validating a person’s feelings, I am better able to offer compassion for their situation.

Communication skills, including active listening, also tie into what I believe makes an effective leader.  This belief has led me to examine my communication skills and style to ensure I am able to effectively communicate with supervisors, colleagues, clients, and friends and family in way that is comfortable and clear to them.  I have had supervisors in the past that did not communicate in a way that was clear to me which caused confusion and delays in projects; by using multiple avenues of communication I feel I will avoid those problems.

I believe creativity to be one of the most important qualities in a leader that aspires to be effective.  By being open to suggestion and trying new approaches, a leader allows everyone to feel a sense of ownership in a project, which can increase morale and participation.  This is essential in a social worker in that working with clients to promote autonomy and self-determination requires collaboration on goal setting.  In my personal life I enjoy a variety of outlets from knitting to running and I carry the cathartic experience I gain from those activities into my practice by encouraging clients to find an activity or hobby they enjoy.  By providing clients with potentially non-traditional or new outlets, I feel they are able carry the ability to think outside the box into their personal lives by making positive choices and changes. 

My professional goals seem to be an ever-changing list filled with causes and injustices that desperately need advocating.  As I have stated, my passion lies in macro-level work and I hope after completing my Masters that I find work advocating for health care and immigration policy reform.  I also have an interest in pursuing international social work focused on economic development of Latin American countries.  Overall, my most important professional goal is to become a well-educated, competent social worker and I feel that by pursuing my Masters degree, I am one step closer to achieving that goal.