Sample Personal Statement For Social Work

I am applying for the School of Social Work Graduate Program at Boise State, beginning in the summer of 2017. In the spring of 2017, I will graduate from Warner Pacific College in Portland, Oregon with my BSSW and a minor in sociology. The reason that I am pursuing a Masters in Social Work, as a veteran of the United States Marine Corps, I have watched several of my friends deal with the emotional scars of combat. In addition, they have struggled with substance use, trouble with the law, maintaining employment, interpersonal relationships, and suicide. Because of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the widespread issue of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has finally come into mainstream awareness. My friends and their families

Because of this I have done my best to educate and inform my understanding of people who are different from me by listening to others. I want to be open to learning from people of other ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, socioeconomic statuses and ages. I believe constant self-reflection especially with regard to relating to others, is a crucial part of being a social worker. I grew up in Alaska and it was there, I witnessed first-hand the struggles faced by the Alaska Native population. I saw the impact of social injustice on individuals who were and remain my close friends. Alcoholism, sexual assault, and for some, abandonment by their families were some factors that led to Native children to be placed in the youth villages. The children would go to school in a Caucasian world, but their home life was more often traditional. Recently, I was having a discussion with a childhood friend who is Tlingit Indian, and she mentioned that for her and her peers, it was confusing to live bi-culturally while her family values conflicted with those of white culture. This is something that I was not aware of growing up, but as I reflect now and look back, I understand the hurt my friends felt when we were

On a daily basis I worked with numerous domestic violence cases. It was not until I began working at this agency, did I realize how much domestic violence (DV) leads to clients, especially women, becoming homeless. Working with clients I assess what their basic needs are such as housing and help develop plan plans to achieve these goals. It is during these goal setting sessions the CBT comes into play where we will sit down and work on changing old thinking patterns and barriers to create new positive behavior and overcoming barriers such as criminal backgrounds and rental