I decided that I wanted to be a social worker when I realized that social work is very similar to psychology( my major in undergrad), except it puts more emphasis on helping people and finding their strengths rather than giving them a diagnosis and being predominantly problem-focused. My own decision in enjoying helping people with their problems influenced me to want to pursue a profession in social work.

Becoming a full professional with a graduate degree in Social Work represents the culmination of a life long of personal and professional preparation. I have so enjoyed working with people, helping them with their problems. At 34, I feel that I have the necessary maturity to perform at my very best level, again, as a student. I now also have a high level of motivation that accompanies my current position working with incarcerated youth, mostly minority. However, I am deeply concerned by the explosive incarceration rates in America, and the way African Americans and Hispanics lead the way going to jail, rather than college, working, etc. This sense of urgency makes me an excellent candidate for your Master’s program because I am so fully engaged with my place of employment. It is my sincere hope to be able to make some modest contribution to discussions of how to best counsel and care for at-risk youths, in my case my research interest is in boys, especially those at-risk for spending their young adulthood behind bars.My inspiration and level of motivation, it all speaks to be graduate school as a place where I belong.

I am currently working at Harbor View Adolescent Center as a Youth Counselor for incarcerated youth with behavioral and emotional problems in a residential treatment facility. In my job as a youth counselor, my primary work responsibility was to serve as a positive role model for adolescents aged twelve to eighteen. The residents had backgrounds of being homeless and victims of physical and sexual abuse. Some of them were also dealing with drug and alcohol abuse, depression, and the criminal justice system. At times, my job was extremely stressful. But I discovered that I had the ability to connect with the adolescents and develop strong emotional ties with them. I focused on helping them with their social skills, coping skills, and independent living skills. My main goal was to help them build their self-esteem and improve their sense of security.

The adolescents that I worked with in the residential treatment facility at times would get physically assaultive, throwing chairs and banging their heads on the doors. They would also exhibit self-harming behaviors. It was during these crisis situations that I would get stuck in knowing the best clinical approach to use when they were self-harming. I would like to have better tools for helping these kids when they are in crisis, and whether those interventions are well supported by the literature. I hope that with the aid of a Master’s degree in Social Work I will be able to do just that. I will be able to help my kids in crisis and am at teaching them the necessary skills so that they can transition into more independent living.

These youth need all the help and attention we can give them in order to fight recidivism, especially African American and Hispanic males, who continue to come back into our system.If you were to grant me the privilege of studying in your program, I hope to be able to research the recidivisim rates of black and Hispanic juveniles and young adoelscents so as to contribute to our understanding of how we can best go about saving their lives and, at the same time, easing the financial burdens on our society.