Social Work/Sociology Personal Statement Example

For as long as I can remember, I have always been interested in the interactions of human beings and on a larger scale how human behaviour affects society. I have a particular interest in social care which is an area I believe, cannot be embarked upon lightly. It is my view that life experiences are valuable in determining how one can contribute to this particular career.
Life experience provides the ability to empathise and walk in the shoes of others and I believe that my own life experiences to date will have equipped me, to some degree, with the necessary skills involved to empathise with the more vulnerable members of society. I am interested in understanding individuals who experience difficulties interacting positively
with the systems within the world in which they live. For example the family, school,education and the law are often experienced in a negative way.
As one of my close family members is a social worker I am under no illusions as to what the job involves and I am aware that social care can often be one of the most difficult and challenging jobs within any of the professions. The pressures of social work are not assisted by the often negative attention received by the media. Whilst I was growing up, my family fostered a young boy around the same age as myself, this gave me a genuine insight into what
life was like for a child in care. As a teenager, I volunteered with a charity called 'speech matters' that helps adults with dysphasia who have lost the ability to communicate verbally through stroke or head injury. This gave me tremendous understanding of the difficulties faced by these people, and how they can often be stigmatised due to misconceptions that their difficulties in communication equate to mental incapacities, when in fact this is not the
case.
I have a genuine interest in people and their behaviours, I have a strong sense of justice and often find it easier to advocate on behalf of others than I do myself. I am incensed by discrimination against those who are disadvantaged within our society.

I am currently studying on an access course where I am taking modules in both sociology and psychology. I am particularly interested in sociology where I find it fascinating and refreshing to be able to take myself out of the box and examine society objectively and analytically. I have a desire to understand how human beings in society function on an individual, group and societal level and how culture, religion and ethnicity influence the values and norms within society. I find sociology an intriguing subject and feel that it is relevant to us all. I am keen to push the boundaries of my existing ideas and to explore and
absorb many others. I enjoy travelling and find it interesting to learn about the many diverse cultures within the world. Another passion of mine, which goes hand in hand with sociology, is history. I enjoy learning about previous societies and cultures and I feel that we must understand the past to be able to make sense of the present. Other activities that take up my free time are watching football and reading.

It has been a number of years since I have been in study and I am realistic about the challenges I will face. I see my return to education as a test which I wish to overcome to reach my ultimate goal. As a mature student who has left full time employment to return to education, I feel that although returning to study has been a risk financially, I have the motivation, commitment and determination to overcome the difficulties that I will encounter.