Working With Children: Personal Statement

I became interested in working with children because I grew up in a home with many children from many different age groups. My mother has been a home daycare provider for 25 years. As I grew older, I began to help my mother take care of the children. I would help feed them, play with them, and assist with arts and crafts. Once I became more mature, I started babysitting and nannying for many families at my mother's daycare. Growing up, having children around all the time inspired me to want to work with children in the future. I have always enjoyed working with and spending time with children of all ages. I love watching children learn and experience new things and making an impact in their lives. I became interested in mental health through

I completed many college classes online while at Iowa State University. I have also completed research and part-time jobs working fully online. The Covid-19 pandemic helped prepare me to be successful in an online graduate program. During the pandemic, I took 15 online credits and worked as a cashier at Kowalski's grocery store for 20 hours a week. While taking classes online in college, I have been able to hold part-time jobs and work ten hours or more a week. My degree in Psychology and my minor in Human Development Family Studies have given me a strong academic background to move onto a graduate program. Some of the many classes I have taken that will help me in this program include Cognitive Psychology, Abnormal Psychology, and Parent and Family Diversity Issues. I have also successfully made it on the dean's list throughout college and graduated cum laude. I am very comfortable and confident in my ability to work online

For this internship, I provided early intensive behavior intervention services for children aged 2-7 years diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. I helped children improve their independence, skill development, self-care, safety, sensory processing, and communication skills. I also interned at The Bridge Autism Clinic as a Behavior Therapist during the summer of 2022. While employed there, I worked with children aged 2-12 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. I followed each child's prescribed behavioral skill acquisition and behavior reduction protocols to help improve their skills and prepare them for school. I also volunteered at FamilyWise, where I was a Supervised Visitation Monitor. I helped facilitate safe and structured visitation and exchange services for families affected by crisis and safety