Social Worker Personal Statement

My name is Brianna Stewart and I am currently a senior at Kentucky State University. I have always wanted to be a social worker growing up, because I’ve watched my mother change so many people’s life in this career. A social worker helps people of all different cultures and backgrounds and doesn’t discriminate against anybody. I’ve always been a helping person and I’ve always been the type of person who people come to for advice. People always felt comfortable telling me personal experience because I’ve never been the type of person to judge somebody based on what they have been through. In my opinion, nobody is perfect and everybody goes through different experiences so it’s never ok to judge someone based off of what they are going through.
I was raised to treat people how I would want to be treated and placing judgement on an individual has never been a good thing. I have really good listening skills and I have always loved listening to others problems because sometimes I can relate to them and tell them my experience on that certain issue. I’ve noticed throughout my life that people enjoy talking to people who have experience some of the same issues they are experiencing. Social work is a great career when it comes to helping others and making a difference in a persons life and that’s always a dream of mine. Making a difference in a persons life is so rewarding for not only the client but for the social worker.

Growing up I was blessed because my family didn’t struggle much but we weren’t rich growing up. Even though I haven’t experience a lot of struggles within my childhood, I was always taught that even though I might not need help at the moment, I could possibly need it in the future. Becoming a social worker not only lets me help others but I have the opportunity to give back to my society. Even though a social worker can not save everybody, they try their hardest to help their clients with any issues they are experiencing. Social work is a rewarding career because if I helped a client get their child back or overcome a issue it would make my day. Helping others has always been a big passion of mine throughout my life.

Social worker is not a career that somebody should go into if they want to make a lot of money, it’s mainly just a rewarding and helping career. Getting a graduate degree can help an individual make more money in the career but it always can also broaden the populations they can work with. I would like to become a medical social worker and in order to become one I must have my masters degree to pursue with my dream. Also a graduate degree in social works opens the door for a individual to teach social work classes, have private sessions with clients not working at an agency, and etc. I have also noticed that a lot of jobs now require people to have their masters degree and by having that degree more job opportunities will start to open up. Graduate school also makes individuals more knowledgeable about the career profession and the different populations someone might work with. It’s a good ideas to have a lot of knowledge on the population you choose to work with, but a person also will gain knowledge from different experiences they go through within the population.

My views on diversity in a society has always been very strong.
Growing up I lived in a black community and grew up going to schools with majority African Americans people. After I graduate college I attended a HBCU in Kentucky and never had the opportunity to work with somebody outside of my culture or race. When I came to Kentucky, even though I attend a HBCU I have had to opportunity to be exposed to people of different cultures and race. Being exposed to people who are different from me can help me throughout my profession because somebody’s different background and culture can broaden my knowledge. People have to realized that diversity starts within ourselves because somebody is so quick to judge another person because they are considered different from them. Also, a lot of children views on diversity starts at a young age in their household. Whoever raises a child always has a big impact on their lives because their the main person the child looks up too. Parents should expose their child to people of different culture, religions, and races so when they get older they will be knowledgeable and well-balanced when around a person who is different from them. Also, bullying is very common within children in schools now and the people who get bullied are always the children who are different from others. As a social worker, a individual needs to be respectful working with diverse populations because of their different background. Like I previously stated placing judgment is not good and people have to treat each other the same way the would want to be
treated.

Currently, I am in my second semester of my field placement working at a daycare called Rosenwald Center for Families and Children in Frankfort, Kentucky. The population I work with are children between the ages of 1-5. Some of the children I work with come from different cultures, has behavioral problems, disabilities, and a learning development delay compared to the other children at the center. I work with the children in small groups and also as a whole and I help them learn how to work well with one another with people who are different from them. I get the children engaged in different activities with children who have a disability, different culture or race. By doing this it helps the children with their views on diversity at a early age. I’m currently employed at my Internship, and it helps me a lot getting to know this population because I never had younger siblings growing up. It’s interesting working with these children because they help me work on my patience. As a social worker, patience is a big aspect that a person needs to have especially while working with the disabled population. When I first started my internship at the daycare one of the children came to the center with a bruise around his eye and came to me and stated that his mother did it. I started talking to the child more and asked him questions about what happened to cause his mother to do that. It was disturbing hearing the child tell me this but it automatically made me tell the teacher and director that they should have a meeting with the child’s parent before we reported this incident to Child Protective Services. Being a social worker is not a easy job and an individual must be emotionally stable and keep it professional while dealing with situations especially with such a vulnerable population such as children.

Social work is a good profession that I can honestly see myself pursuing in. My personality is good for this career and it will be a good experience as well. I would love to have the opportunity to broaden my knowledge on this career by getting accepted into the program. I believe I would be a good candidate for this program as well. Thank you for taking the time to evaluate my essay.