Social Work Personal Statement

I was born and raised in the East side of San Jose, where I graduated from James Lick High school. It was a very tough school when I attended despite all the obstacles I still managed to graduate. I moved on to San Jose City College where I obtained two degrees, an AS-T in Social Science and the other in Liberal Arts and then moved on to San Jose State University. I am the first generation to have attended a four-year University. I am the daughter of two immigrant parents that came to this country 26 plus years ago from Mexico. It was very hard for my parents to have made something out of their life in their home land. Just at the young age of 19 they decided to sacrifice their life to give my siblings and I a better one. I am the first in
I have been exposed to certain situations at my current job where I have felt stuck because of the limitations that my job offers. I feel like Social Work would help me take that extra step in the right direction. I enjoy working with the forgotten population that I like to call them the ones that everyone over sees. I am applying to the Master of Social Work program because I have found tremendous satisfaction with working with at risk youth. I was stuck on Criminal Justice for as long as I could remember but it wasn’t until I started my internship where I truly knew what I wanted to pursue. The Juvenile Justice System has always been something that I have been interested in. Many of the times the youth are not being given the help that they did. A great deal of the time it is deeper than it looks. My primary reason for pursuing social work is because I want to provide the direct service with the family as well as the child. My passion has always been working with at risk youth, and I believe that by taking the path of social work I can better assist them. I had an incredible experience with the criminal justice program at San Jose State University, and it has encouraged me to further my education on this
How your background and experience influenced your decision and prepared you to become a social worker, specifically experience with each of the following:
1. Personal and professional experiences (e.g., experiences that have helped shape and define who you are; experiences giving and receiving help, etc.). If you have faced adversity and/or challenges in your life (e.g. trauma, addiction, immigration/acculturation experiences, mental illness, etc.) please explain how you have overcome these challenges and are now prepared for graduate