Graduate / The role of a social worker is to serve& empower individuals, groups&communities; USC MSW [4]

As part of your application for admission to the USC Master of Social Work program, please submit a Statement of Purpose that encapsulates your motivation in seeking an MSW. Your statement should demonstrate an ability to synthesize your professional/personal experiences and desire to enter the field of social work. This statement will be used to assess your creativity, critical thinking, self-awareness and writing skills. Use the following questions as a guide for topics to address within the statement and not a format for your statement. Please note your statement of purpose must be 5 double-spaced pages in length, with 1-inch margins, and 12 point Times New Roman font. You must upload the Statement of Purpose to the Supporting Documents section of the online Graduate Admissions Application.

Describe your understanding of the social work profession and its core values. How have you incorporated social work values in your human service experiences and interactions with others?

What significant relationships and life experiences have you had in giving or receiving help that have motivated you to enter the field of social work?

What personal qualities equip you for the social work profession? Discuss your experiences and feelings about working with populations different from your own.

The USC School of Social Work is dedicated to providing excellent graduate education for people destined to create social change. What social welfare areas interest you and why? What social problem most concerns you that might be addressed with an MSW?

Discuss your undergraduate/graduate academic experience and include a description of your academic strengths and weaknesses. Please explain any grade deficiencies and what you have done to improve them.

Graduate education can be a rigorous and costly endeavor. How do you plan to prepare for this experience? Are there any health conditions or physical limitations that will impact your participation in graduate study and field work?

Statement of Purpose

My desire to pursue a career in the field of social work stemmed from the outcome of my parallel experience of learning about D.V. in an undergraduate course and of becoming an active volunteer within a non-profit organization where I was able to care for child victims of D.V.

I began volunteering in the department of childcare at the non-profit organization, North County Lifeline (NCL), with the objective of gaining further familiarity in working with children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Initially I was not informed that the children I was taking care of were victims of D.V. and upon entry what I observed were children who were timid, refraining from making eye contact, and uttering nothing more than a rare yes or no. Although I perceived their actions as a deviation from that of a 'normal' child, I found myself drawing similarities in their behavior and my childhood self-which actually helped me with the formation of establishing trusting relationships with the children. However, the resurfacing of my childhood was evermore ignited by my course study on what a violent home setting can encompass. I noticed myself checking off almost every section from the power and control wheel when comparing the given scenarios to my family home. Memories of my own home interview with a social worker about possible violence and abuse in my home began to reemerge. I began drawing connections on the effects that D.V. can have on children, with not only my personal self, but with that of the children I was taking care of. I became motivated to inquire further about the each child's background and to research how to work with children who have lived in D.V. setting, becoming familiar with effective and engaging positive activities.

My realization and acceptance of my first-hand experience with D.V., which I had normalized as a child, has magnified my interest in pursuing a meaningful career in helping children and families who are suffering from any form of abuse.

I believe the role of a social worker is to serve and empower individuals, groups, and communities, who continue to face social injustice, inequality and the many shapes and shades of abuse, in order to help restore a greater sense of human and social well-being. Positive social change becomes a reality with the adherence to mutual social work core values: social justice, respect, reliability, honesty, trust, empathy, competency, and recognition of the importance of human relationships for a healthy life. I believe these values set guidelines for being an effective social worker, where my personal implementation of these core values allowed for success in my interactions with co-workers and clients.

At NCL I have been able to utilize my bilingual skill of speaking both English and Spanish, my cultural background and knowledge on different Hispanic communities, and my D.V. background to better asses and communicate with clients. My field-work knowledge has expanded progressively, serving over five hundred hours with different populations. I became multi-trained among many diverse programs that have allowed me to gain exposure and experience among children and mothers who have been victims of D.V., men who have been perpetrators of D.V., young adults exiting the foster care system, families who are homeless under HUD regulations, and people who lack formal education, speak only Spanish, are unemployed, are facing housing discrimination, identify with a certain race or ethnic minority, and/or are suffering from poverty. With such a wide scope of clientele I learned to embrace and utilize the core values of social work.

When working with clients I find it necessary to treat each individual with the same amount of respect; however, the way in which I interact with clients is specific to that individual, so as to from an initial appointment begin to build rapport. I remember the feeling of satisfaction from being able to assist an elderly Hispanic Spanish speaking woman in filling out forms for her public benefits applications, due to her inability to both read and write. I was able to create a positive first impression and atmosphere, where she felt comfortable enough to trust me with her personal information as I explained the different forms. She readily signed all the necessary forms, without questioning my experience as a volunteer, which I soon found out to be something common among clients, especially Spanish speaking clients. As a professional figure in the field, even with my disclosure of being a volunteer, clients placed great amount of responsibility that I had a desire and obligation to live up to. Helping clients with public benefit applications required me to become more familiar with policies and documentations to process cases, which has made me a more competent advocate.

However, one population I had difficulty relating to were homeless clients, because I had a hard time imagining how it must feel to live on the streets, in my car, or in a shelter, with no form of income. The social injustice that these clients faced is grave, and is only magnified by other additional variable: immigration status, age, disability, and etc. I came to develop a great sense of empathy for individuals and families with these living circumstances, which made it very difficult to be honest about the limited and specific funding NCL offered for housing. I had to do a lot of research on different agencies that would be capable of assisting individuals with motel vouchers, rental deposits, and ect., which had me become more knowledgeable about housing options and regulations. When returning calls from the intake line, within the first few seconds I could perceive the amount of gratitude and relief individuals felt in getting a call back, trying to establish a human connection, where their specific situation mattered. The promise of working with a case manager compared to handing them a life boat. I have found that the active implementation of social work values when working with all types of clients or co-workers allows for stronger relationships to be built, relationships which foster positive and fulfilling human interactions.

Interacting with many different populations and offering different services opened up my eyes to the vast unmet social needs by public programs. I analyzed how the lack of social programs not only influenced the life of the adult, but that of their children as well. Helping children and family once more became my prime focus and has allowed me to narrow my career goal in the field of social work.

Currently I am striving to become a competent child welfare social worker, where I will be capable of personally aiding children who are victims of abuse and neglect. The ability to provide direct support and resources for children and families who are living under difficult and abusive circumstances is something not only ultimately rewarding, but something that can foster social change. Each child who suffers abuse is affected in some manner, and regardless of whether the reality or graveness of the abuse is processed, the experience of trauma remains. Assisting children in receiving aid and counseling services promotes personal trauma resilience. With personal progress, children, when confronted with critical life choices, are given the possibility to elect a different healthy lifestyle than the one previously experienced. Child victims of neglect and abuse are able to become healthy members of society; they are able to become social agents of change for their communities at large.

As a potential MSW graduate student I am interested in analyzing how a child's removal from their home setting influences their trauma resilience, and to what extent different housing placements compare. When a child is removed from the home there is the justification that the decision was made in the best interest of the child. I feel that is a valid reason, but the wording allows for each choice made to be very subjective. In undertaking this MSW program I hope to gain a better understanding of the practice methods and service used in the community by CWS. In order to become competent in this field of work I understand that I need to pursue more formal education. In order to be able to have so much influence over the life of an abused and/or neglected child there needs I need to have a better understanding of practice methods that protect children.

I am confident that I will continue to be scholastically successful in obtaining an MSW degree. I have been able to receive consistent grades across all subjects through my undergraduate academia. My Sociology major has explored different issues of inequality that are essential to understanding social life and my Spanish minor has allowed me to refine my Spanish writing technical skills and further my cultural competency. The subjects that I tend to struggle with are math, biology, and physics, all of which will just require more time for me to be able to grasp their respective theories and methods. However, I have the energy and determination to begin learning new relevant social work material and am eager to be exposed to a different community through service learning.

I am prepared to make the necessary arrangements to move to University Park and begin the next stage in my life. I do not have any health conditions or social obligations that would impede my acceptance to your MSW program. I have not yet decided if I would like to live on campus; however, I do plan on saving money specifically for housing up until fall of next year. I have a genuine interest and passion in becoming an effective and competent social agent of change, by providing support and resources, as a compassionate and empathetic social worker, for children and families who continue to face social injustice, inequality, and the many shapes and shades of abuse.