Social Work Advocate Scholarship Essay

I am applying for the Gift Fund and Social Work Advocate scholarships. My work ethic and commitment to education qualifies me for both these scholarships. Two of the most treasured values my parents passed on to me were a strong work ethic and an appreciation for what I earn. Growing up, it was my responsibility to pay for things that I wanted, and my parents provided me with work opportunities around the house to earn the money. As a result, I learned not only how to plan, save, and work hard for the things I wanted, but I learned to value those things as a result of all the hard work required to obtain them. Today, minus remaining on my parents’ insurance policy, I continue to pay for all my expenses, including my tuition, books, rent, and
other school expenses. I’ve been able to do this by working 20 hours a week on top of going to school full time. My hard work and tenacity have also earned me scholarships through the Boise State Marching Band, the Honors College, and the School of Social Work. While I did have to take out some student loans, I was able to cover most of the expenses for my schooling through my job and scholarships. I understand and greatly appreciate the value of my undergraduate degree because I put in both the academic and financial hard work in order to make it a reality. I also know the cost of something as precious as an education, and as such, I know how valuable scholarships are to achieving my academic and career goals.
My work ethic also shines through in my commitment to my education.
For as long as I can remember, hard work not only allowed me to excel in my academics, but it pushed me to challenge myself as well. As a student who did not shy away from Advanced Placement courses in high school, I decided to further challenge myself in my undergraduate schooling by joining the Boise State Honors College. I most notably remember my freshman year taking an Honors Communications 101 course. This course was an awakening to the fact that “good enough” did not equate to “excellence”. The professor’s high expectations left me overwhelmed at first, but I had to make the choice whether or not to rise to them. My hard work and refusal to settle for less than I was capable of not only earned me an A in the course, but I ended up learning things about communication and public speaking that I still utilize in my work and school today. This commitment to academic excellence has remained with me throughout my undergraduate career. From my greatly challenging minor in music to my final senior integrative paper, I never settled for less than my best, and I have seen how putting forth my best effort has reaped greater academic rewards and taught me far more than taking easier classes ever could have. This is demonstrated not only in the challenging classes I selected but also my 3.977 cumulative GPA. I know this determination and commitment to challenge myself and strive for excellence will remain with me in my graduate studies as well as in my future
career.
My history of community service also qualifies me for both the Gift Fund and the Advocate Scholarship, as they demonstrate my potential for contribution in the field of social work. When I was senior in high school, my desire to help those in my community led me to starting my own donation drive for the Idaho Fall’s Haven Shelter. Once a week I would have to commute 30 minutes from my small Eastern Idaho town into Idaho Falls for my shift as a junior volunteer at the local hospital. During this commute, I would drive past the Haven Shelter and see the marque asking for specific donations. After some time debating what I could do to best help those at the shelter, I decided to form my own donation drive. Working with my local church leaders and high school, I set up donations bins and donation pick-up times. I reached out to the high school drama club to help me collect and sort the donations. At the end of the two weeks I put on the drive, the donations received were able to fill my Jeep over three times. I was asked by many people if this was a senior project or a church requirement, and they were always surprised to hear that I put it in simply because I thought it was the right thing to do.
This donation drive was not an isolated act of my adolescence. My involvement in service, from cooking meals at the Idaho Falls Rescue Mission to my over 235 hours volunteered at the local hospital assisting patients and their families, developed within me a love for helping my community that came with me to college. As a freshman, I helped found the Boise State chapter of Colleges against Cancer and was in charge of creating, implementing, and managing the Luminaria Ceremony at Boise State’s first Relay for Life event. The following year, not only was I director over both the Survivor and Luminaria Ceremony, but as a resident assistant for Boise State Housing, I helped my residents create a team and put on fundraisers for the event as well. I have also been involved in the St. Baldrick’s Foundation by organizing 5 community profit shares to raise money for childhood cancer research. Recently, I volunteered time over the summer to be a counselor for both sessions of the Boise Youth Spectacular, a three-day, Latter Day Saint-ran youth conference. Interacting with those teenagers cultivated in me a desire to work with this population and their families in my clinical work, and it revealed to me that I have a strong ability to connect with this population as well.
In specific regards to the Advocate scholarship, my community service has also granted me the opportunity to gain valuable advocacy skills. I am a member of the Cancer Action Network (ACS-CAN), a branch of the American Cancer Society that focuses on advocacy for cancer-related research and programs. Through being a member of ACS-CAN, I have not only contacted state and federal legislators via phone and email to discuss cancer-related legislation, but I have also personally met with Idaho lawmakers to discuss topics such as increasing funding for the Idaho Women’s Health Check, including tobacco cessation counseling in the Idaho Women’s Health Check, and putting forth more funds to the Smoke-Free Idaho Project. I am also actively involved in contacting lawmakers in regards to the recent movements to bar Syrian refugees from coming to Idaho. While I never thought I would be someone who would strive to make a difference on a macro level, now that I have gained confidence in myself as an advocate, I plan to continue it throughout my schooling and social work career. While my career goals focus mainly on direct clinical work, making time to reach out to legislators for the benefit of my clients will be a priority.
Finally, the potential for contribution in the field of social work is not just limited to advocacy work. In regards to the Gift Fund Scholarship, my career goals demonstrate further contributions I will make in the future. My plan is to pursue a career in clinical social work, specifically rural work. Rural areas are severely lacking in regards to mental health services, and I want to utilize my talents to help this population. While I am open to and interested in working with a variety of people, the target populations I want to work with are couples and children, particularly adolescents. After building up my skills and experience, I would like to run my own private practice. My recent internship at the Idaho Suicide Prevention Hotline has also sparked interest in continuing work in crisis intervention work, possibly as a phone room supervisor, or even paving the way for crisis intervention resources to be brought to rural areas in the West where they are greatly needed. The Gift Fund Scholarship, as well as the Advocate Scholarship, would greatly help me in achieving these career goals. I have demonstrated my commitment to my community and schooling through my volunteerism and academic rigor, and such scholarships would greatly relieve the burden of all my financial responsibilities.