Personal Statement: An Introduction To Social Work

I. Personal Background Information

I have always been drawn to serving others. I enjoy listening to the challenges people face and helping them arrive at a healthy conclusion. I take pride in advocating for those who are unable to advocate for themselves and genuinely care for every person who lacks access, or is denied access to services their community provides. However, I never thought of social work as a profession. I always thought psychology was what I needed to study in able to obtain my long-term goals of working in a school setting or becoming a therapist. It was not until my junior year here at Monmouth University, I realized psychology was not the right field for me. As psychology became a more research-based program, I began to examine social work as a major and explore the classes they offered. The Introduction to Social Work class opened up so many more opportunities. I finally understood the content I was learning and was able to apply those learning’s to the kind of work I potentially saw myself doing. In other words, I felt at home in the field of social work, like I had finally found my calling.
As a sophomore in high school, I

Teachers often mistake students with disabilities as “annoying” and write them off as “dumb” or “lazy,” due to lack of education. I understand some teachers experience training with the mentally ill or learning disabled population, however I strongly believe every teacher, everywhere, should experience extensive training with children who have any kind of disability. As school staff it is our job to provide a safe learning environment for our children, especially because many children do not receive the same kind of attention and affection in their homes, so when they come to school and are being treated like they are less than human, they begin to believe they are “annoying” or