Plater Personal Statement When I was a Community Service Scholar, I took a class called the Psychology of Giving (PHST-P330) that was attached to the position. The whole class was centered on how we can combine our personalities, educational achievements, and civic service experiences to become a civic minded graduate and then after graduation become a civic minded professional when we have acquired the job we aspire to. Prior to the class, I had not realized that there was such a concept. But as Jennifer Halford introduced and explain the theory of the civil-minded graduate, I could no longer see myself not being one. At that time, I was volunteering at the Exodus Refugee Immigration for about 4 hours a week to complete my community service scholar requirement. It started out as just a way to complete the scholarship requirement, but after I went to the airport to pick up a family that had just landed from the Democratic Republic of Congo, I knew that this was something I could see myself …show more content…
The first change I made was my major. I started to major in Global and International Studies with a focus in African development. This was so that the classes I took in college would be directly applicable to my intended field. I took the GRE and applied (and got accepted) to public policy graduate programs because I understand that my undergraduate education is not enough to equip me with the skills I need to make a difference in people’s lives. I became involved in the Undergraduate Student Government as a senator and took up more important roles in organizations like the African Student Association and the LGBTQ Alliance. Since I made the decision to focus on development situations in Africa and immigrant problems in the US, I have learnt so much from professors, seminars, workshops and