I am a young Indian woman; born in Frankfurt, Germany, I was raised in India for the first 10 years of my life. I have lived in Long Island, New York for the last 16 years. One of the reasons why I wish to enter the program at XXXX is that it is near my home, and I would feel honored to study at such a distinguished institutions with such a long historical tradition of preparing people to learn how to best help others. I hold a B.S. in Psychology and look forward to earning a MSW Degree because I feel strongly that this is the professional track that is the best match for my high degree of determination to make a constructive difference in the lives of mentally ill clients. The MSW will prepare me for service to a broad spectrum of people: with mental disabilities, physical disabilities, social problems, family problems, through rehabilitation counseling and helping people develop the necessary skills for dealing successfully with their personal problems. I look forward to being introduced to the full gambit of theory, models, and research tools that will enable me to become an effective researcher in the field of social work as well as a thoughtful and highly dedicated practitioner. I want to work with the mentally ill population, as a social worker, helping them develop the skills and knowledge that can help them to deal with the special social difficulties that result from their illness.

For the last two-and-a-half years, I have been employed with XXXX, Inc. I began working there as mental health counselor and now I am a case manager. We also provide various counseling services for the individuals families, so as to encourage them to develop workable strategies, optimistic attitudes, and the confidence that is required to successfully assist their mentally ill family member to become a more independent and even productive member of society. I meet with numerous clients on a daily basis working towards the development and implementation of these highly individualized, strategic plans developed by myself and my colleagues. My experience at Options has helped me to develop a much more sophisticated understanding of mental illness. I truly enjoy helping my clients, making a difference in their lives, even if it is something small such as teaching them how to take public transportation on their own. I feel a great sense of accomplishment when they become able to do even little things on their on their own that they never expected.

My job description includes rehabilitation counseling, symptom management, and assertiveness/self advocacy training, etc. I take a special pride in and feel a great satisfaction seeing my clients successfully developing new skills that make their lives much more manageable and independent. I find it extremely rewarding to be a part of these great changes that so drastically improve the lives of my clients wrestling with mental health issues and their families. Unfortunately, however, I am deeply troubled by the fact that there are many people in need of these services but for whom these services are unavailable due to a lack of sufficient funding within the community mental health system. My long term goals for the future, therefore, include attaining an excellent graduate education, such as that afforded by the MSW Program at XXXX, and I am confident that this will provide me with the necessary tools to not only become a much better social worker in the future, but also be able to work at promoting and effectively advocating for more funding and better training programs for those who are interested in working in the field of mental and family health, helping others to learn how to be the most effective servants possible for the neediest members of our society those struggling with profound mental health issues. I am also very concerned with the issue of domestic violence and hope to have the opportunity at some point to work in this area. Domestic violence is extremely common in India and even among Americans of Indian origin; thus I may be an excellent candidate to work in this area.

I think that my greatest personal gift that I have to contribute to the program at XXXX and later my community in general is a huge heart. And in addition to being a caring compassionate person, I am also very patient, extremely highly motivated, and a very dedicated learner. I am someone who is deeply immersed in the theories and models that offer those of us in the helping professions great hope for the future. I know that graduate school will be very challenging, thus, if I am accepted into the program at XXXX, I plan to quit my job so as to concentrate full time on my studies. My family is very supportive of my going to graduate school, especially since I will be the first female from either side of my family to attain a graduate degree. The only difficulty that I envision is a slight readjustment to getting back into the habit of spending most of my time studying; but I look forward to it very much. I want to thank you for consideration of my application.