College Admissions Essay: Working Together And Helping Others

Working together and helping others is important in almost every area of life. I believe that no one should feel ashamed for asking for help, I know this all too well since I struggled to understand that during my adolescence years. I realized that I seldom requested and often rejected offers of assistance. This resulted in me being a very troubled and out of control teenager. Throughout, the years I have learned through personal experiences and my college career that interdependence is a key factor in being successful in life. A successful individual would employ interdependence by actively seeking out mutually supportive relationships to help achieve his or her goals and dreams while doing the same for others in return. I have also learned

I refused to be the one to ask for the help and this was because every time I tried speaking at home, I was shut down. At first, my pride was too strong, as I had gotten accustomed to my way of life. I had also learned to shield my feelings and shut people down when they tried helping. However, my god brother's Social Worker, which I met during one of her home visits change my life completely. When I met her I was very distant and assumed that like everyone else she wanted to tell me what and how to do things, to change my behavior. It was almost as everyone I encounter agreed with my mom that I was wrong and that I was not doing what was expected of me. However, this Social Worker was different and gain my trust by first teaching me how to see my strengths and viewing me as capable of doing so much more, than just being a big sister with parent-like

I often felt that everyone, including the Social Worker, saw me as not knowing what I wanted and of needing someone to always tell me what and how to do things. This is because I was young and uneducated and felt that they would easily try to confuse me and trick me into doing things I did not agree with. As a Hispanic female, I grew up with the idea that women are supposed to be submissive and have been taught since early age what roles women play in a family. Therefore, I thought that the Social Worker would agree with my mom that as the only female in my family, it was my job to take care of the household and child-rearing responsibilities. I assumed the Social worker believe this too because she was also a Hispanic female. However, she did not approach me with that idea, she utilized her Hispanic, female and educated positionality to connect with me. She stated that she also came from a family who did not value education as highly as they should and reported that with the help of other’s she was able to challenge her cultures believes, that women did not need an education. Her power as an educated woman allowed me to hope that one day I would be like her and acquired the education needed to be respected and