Social Work Personal Statement Example 12

I decided to apply for the social work degree because after the past nine years I have encountered a lot of different experiences, problems and achievements.

Through my adolescence years I faced many obstacles such as: my cousin going into care and witnessing alcohol and drug misuse.

After these ordeals I realised from that point that I wanted to be the one to help young people overcome problems. I want to strive to be a better person, so I could make a change in a young persons life and know when I go home on a night, that I made a difference and that's why I want to pursue my career as a social worker.

Because of the nature of my chosen career path I believe my personal life experiences will make a great impact. I have experiences with mental health,as a family member has paranoia-schizophrenia who I see on a regular basis.

I also have experience with older people who have health problems caused by old age. As my grandfather suffered two strokes in the past, where he lost his speech, memory and was paralysed in his legs and arms.

When I attended school one of my subject for GCSE was health and social care. Through this course I learnt about the development of children and young people,the elderly and the kinds of care and support they require and much more.

The greatest memorable experience through the course was when students with severer disabilities attended my school. My role was to bond with the students and to help and encourage them to participate in making clocks for Christmas.

From this experience I learnt to be patient,compassionate and non-judgemental. After leaving school I decided I wanted to work with children so I enrolled on an nvq2 in children's care, learning and development course.

Through the duration of the course I attended a private day nursery with children under 5's. I volunteered at the nursery for four days, twenty four hours a week.

My responsibilities within the nursery was to help and provide personal and emotional care,assist with the development of the children, plan activities and children's observation for their development files. I gathered many skills such as;communication skills(with children and parents), organisation skills, teaching skills and managing my workload and responsibilities.

I also attended a couple of training causes whilst on the course which were:child protection,health and safety,food hygiene and first aid. At present I am working voluntary in a sure start children and families centre for sixteen hours a week.

I am currently studying my NVQ3 in children's care, learning and development which I will complete in July 2011. I enjoy working in a sure start centre as I get to interact with the parents,this is one of the areas I wish to get some more experience on. In this nursery I am working with children of the age of three and children with disabilities such as down-syndrome and aspergers syndrome.

This has given me an insight on these types of disabilities and how it effects young children. To get extra experience I have just finish a eight week training course to become a NHS hospital visitor for the chaplaincy department.

Throughout the training I learnt about spirituality,different kinds of losses,listening skills and much more.

I am starting the ward visiting in December once a week in Bradford Royal infirmary on the children's ward. My role is to visit the children and families from bed to to bed and provide them with a chance to talk about anything they would like.

To keep me up to date with the social changes and issues I read the community care magazine. I also love to watch panoramas and documentaries on real issues that people are facing every day.

The most recent panorama I have watched is 'kids in care.' I hope by studying the degree in social work I have the chance to understand more about social problems in society and their causes,effects and solutions and how us as practitioners can diminish and try to resolve these situations.