Social Work Personal Statement

I have chosen to enter a field blandly labeled the “helping profession”, a cautiously enigmatic description at best. Social work tends to evoke images of a broken desk in a dreary office, with a line of disgruntled patrons trickling down an ill-lit hallway. Although the profession entails far more than this depiction allows, it is not always far from the truth. For instance, I currently work as an administrator at a school in rural India that has grand schemes to end the cycle of poverty in one generation. The school practices an audacious policy, which states that providing children with the highest possible level of education will transform their lives so they can act as a catalyst, therefore alleviating the oppressive constraints of the

I worked with the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence as a policy intern, where I was able to take my anger and frustration and use it to help others who were in the same position in which I had found myself. I shared my story with legislators, and used my struggles as a preventative antidote for the pain of those who could not speak; an act that was empowering for myself as well as others. It confirmed what I had learnt formerly, that adversity and trauma does not define an individual. Rather it is an unrelenting ability to grow, adapt, and persevere that changes our own lives and that of

Intentionally avoiding any form of legal court, I feared being re-traumatized when all I wanted was to leave the past behind. However, I regretted that decision later on when he broke into my car, and I had no legal ramifications to use against him. For this reason, I felt at the time that the criminalization of domestic violence should be expanded, and I continued in my work at ICADV to enact criminal policy in the state. Meanwhile, my colleagues and I were met with resistance from legislators and lobbying groups who did not agree with the policy. Some with no solution at all, and others who felt that community intervention provided better long-term security for those involved. My frustrations with this deadlocked policy echoed my past and continued to assiduously nudge me towards a crucial