I am a fully bilingual English/Spanish American woman born in San Antonio to immigrant Mexican parents. Now 36, my central professional experience has been spending more than 13 years in the US Navy. I have always combined my military career with my passion for social work, however, and it is here that my soul comes together. This is why UXX is my first choice for graduate study, since it has the finest MSW program in the world for those applicants who are seeking to build a career focus in the area of military issues, what the field of social work is able to offer to those that serve our country. I hope to become the first member of my family to study towards the Master’s Degree; attending UXX would be a special honor because of the admirable diversity of your program and your dedication to minority empowerment and advancement through higher education.

 As a member of our military, I have traveled to over 15 countries around the globe. And this has helped to inspire my authentic appreciation for all people, all cultures, colors, and economic strata of society, each making its unique contribution to the improvement of our world. I have seen first-hand what can be accomplished with just a little help, a listening ear, and the correct form of guidance and inspiration. I spent many years working as a Career Counselor and have helped to guide and mold countless junior sailors into leaders, helping them reach professional and personal goals for the future as well as the present.

 The core of my own professional identity, nevertheless, has been drawn to a variety of areas that are fundamental to social work. I have served as a volunteer at homeless shelters, battered women’s shelters, Boys and Girls Clubs, and assisted with Special Education classes at elementary schools. I completed an internship as a volunteer for the Project AIDS and Cancer. Part of my love for diversity comes from being raised in San Antonio, Texas, America’s only major city with a Hispanic majority. I learned a great deal about Latinos in America, the enormous diversity that exists in this subsection of society alone. Most of all, perhaps, my training has been inspired by the poverty that surrounded me as I was a child and later an adolescent in a very impoverished neighborhood of immigrant Mexicans. As a result, I am especially interested in doing research in the areas of at-risk youth/adolescents and the ways in which the military often serves as a viable option for education and professional achievement in American society, as has been my own case. My central professional goal is to become a licensed social worker on active duty or employed by the Department of Defense in the support of military families. I feel strongly that the greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to help to soften the glaring disparity of what can be accomplished by a person from the ghetto, as opposed to a person from a wealthy background. I want to devote my career to helping youth to look within themselves for answers, to in fact find themselves, help to foster their achievement of greater levels of self confidence, self-assurance, and the sense of worth that is required to escape a life on inner city streets.

 I believe that I have a lot to give to my area of chosen expertise in social work, in part, because I was myself an at risk teenager, especially prior to that day that a teacher pulled me aside and offered to help me sort out my problems. I was moved by her sincerity and the sense that she truly cared. She has served a a role model for me since then, as I have tried to be more understanding and empathetic for other people and their situations. I realized that a listening ear and a helping hand can help most people get out of what they thought were hopeless situations.  As a career counselor in the Navy, I was able to do just that and help not only individuals, but families as well. The gratitude shown by sailors and their families has really touched my heart and I find myself wanting to give/do more each day. My life experiences have helped me to become non-judgmental with a sincere desire to help others. I understand what it is like to find oneself caught up in a vicious cycle of poverty as a teenager and a high school drop-out connected to the streets, gangs, and partying. Yet I also know what it is like to stand up and say no more. I enrolled in a Job Corps, earned my GED, and became a licensed Dental Assistant. After the birth of my first child, I joined the Navy and, while on active duty, I earned my Associates and Bachelor's Degrees.

 There are many social workers who come from a background of violence, sexual abuse, drugs, and little supervision. I believe strongly that this can be turned into an asset, making us better able to connect to many youth who face challenges and dilemmas much like what I faced when I was young. I have volunteered at the California Youth Authority where I work with young girls, helping them to recognize and understand ways to get out of dangerous, dead end situations, helping to set them on the path to a brighter future. I also volunteer at a Battered Women's Shelter, and I try to take advantage of every opportunity that I have to work with children. Perhaps my fondest dream is to open up a free clinic with other social workers to help and guide at-risk teens, especially young mothers, to find employment and return to school.

I want to design workshops for building self-esteem and independence. Everyone needs to have someone to talk to and I love to be that person that young people can confide in so that I can help them. For the near future, I look forward to devoting my special attention to studying separation anxiety among children and adolescents when their parent is serving in the US Military. This has been a major personal challenge for me as a soldier, and I hope to make the most out of this experience helping others to battle the pain that comes from this separation. I thank you for your consideration of my application to your program.