In a world where inflation, underrepresented communities, and unemployment rates are rising, social workers serve as social justice reformers. As a social worker, I will connect our underserved communities with essential resources and address necessary government policy adjustments. My passion for equality, poverty alleviation, and a holistic approach to the needs of America’s impoverished communities fueled my love for social work. As a part of the African diaspora and growing up in a low-income, single-parent household, I experienced poverty, receiving limited government resources, and discrimination due to inevitable circumstances. My childhood inspired me to become a pivotal part of social change, improve the lives of those facing economic hardship, and ensure resources are readily available to at-risk communities. Realistically, pursuing my goal of becoming a social worker has required personal and educational sacrifices, such as enduring long work shifts, relocating to affordable housing, overcoming imposter syndrome, and lowering social pursuits. As a single woman, with a singular income, increasing rental costs required prolonged work hours to meet financial living costs, which hindered my ability to enroll in college. As a feasible solution, affordable housing relocation permitted me to decrease my work hours, which positively impacted my mental health and allowed me to apply for fall 2026 courses. Additionally, returning to college after an academic break can trigger imposter syndrome, which instills false beliefs, fear, and worst-case-scenario thinking because you are embarking on a new journey outside of your normal daily routine. I combated imposter syndrome by remembering my past academic achievements, gifts and talents, and childhood goal of becoming an integral part of social change in America. Socially, I sacrificed nurturing friendships and declined invitations to social events to make necessary personal life changes to finish my bachelor's social work program. In an educational prospect, inflation prolonged enrollment in social work courses, causing daunting emotions to arise, but the sacrifice is worth the reward of attending academic courses without imposing financial burdens. Honestly, each sacrifice was mandatory to achieve academic success and obtain a proficient skillset to ensure optimal performance in my desired career field. Conclusively, my compassionate, empathic approach to the needs of our voiceless, marginalized communities motivates me to become a social worker. I want to serve all demographics, socioeconomic classes, and populations that experience adversity, extenuating circumstances, acts of injustice, discrimination, racial profiling, or lack of societal safety nets. I hope my essay has displays my passion for social work and the beneficial sacrifices the positioned me for academic prosperity.

Mental health in the African American community has always been an undiscussed, taboo subject. Growing up in an impoverished, single-parent household, my mother experienced multiple mental health issues, such as bipolar disorder, depression, stress, and anxiety. Each mental health disorder negatively affected our household by inflicting fear, creating childhood trauma, and damaging familial relationships. When our household environment became extremely turbulent, my grandmother was always a source of stability and safety. I truly treasured my grandmother and viewed her as a valued person in my life. As a young adult, I was involved in a life-changing vehicular accident, which changed the trajectory of my life and resulted in a personal depression diagnosis. At the time of my vehicular accident, I was attending nursing school with only one year remaining in the bachelor's program. I received treatment for depression, sought faith-based, spiritual practices, and formed healthy coping strategies to find a new normal in my life. Currently, my academic pursuits remain focused on positively impacting others' lives, but in the field of social work. As a social worker, I will provide therapeutic counseling services, advocate for social justice reform, and locate vital resources to enrich our underserved communities. Overall, growing up with a single parent who experienced mental health issues taught me the importance of accessing therapy or counseling upon symptom onset because, as symptoms linger untreated, your loved ones suffer the most. Additionally, my childhood experience with mental health taught me that no mental health diagnosis is clear-cut; they’re always unique to the individual, their circumstances, experiences, socioeconomic status, upbringing, demographic, etc. As I gained this informed approach, I became passionate about providing therapy and counseling services to our underrepresented communities, such as women and children, domestic violence victims, and the unhoused population, which fueled my interest in the social work field. In conclusion, my experience with mental health has shaped my goals, positive outlook, and provided educational lessons that will follow me throughout my life.