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Resiliency Personal Statement

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I have known many friends and family members who have endured tragedy. Some merely survive while others thrive despite their adversity. My observation of these friends and family led me to be fascinated with resiliency. My desire to better understanding factors of resiliency is what motivated me to the profession of social work. I have learned helping others feel empowered leads them to greater resiliency. For me, public service is the act of giving time and talents for the empowerment of a community, including those who live in that community. In my youth, I was given a few opportunities to give service to my community through cleaning up public spaces. What I gained from those experiences was a sense of empowerment to make a difference. …show more content…

Hearing that anyone has cancer is so shocking and difficult, but hearing my twelve year-old neighbor’s diagnosis struck me to my core. I am a nurturer by nature, I knew I needed do anything I could to ease this family’s stress at such a difficult time in their life. My daughter, who was only five at the time, asked me if we could do a barbecue to raise money for our neighbors. At that moment I knew we could at least raise money to help with their expenses. We asked our neighbors permission to move forward with a fundraiser, they agreed. I organized a group of friends to help with the fundraising. We successfully raised 20,000 dollars through a dinner, auction, and 5K run. It was a lot of work, which I was so incredibly grateful for. The father of the girl told me he was incredibly grateful that we were able to help them financially because it allowed him to put more energy into his daughter’s recovery and less energy in worrying how to pay their deductibles. The ability to empower this family helped me see empowerment as a factor of resiliency. I am overjoyed to report my neighbor won her battle and eight years later she is still cancer free. I loved seeing how our community rallied around our neighbors, adding to their ability to be resilient amid their hardship. I remember initially thinking if we could raise a few thousand dollars that would be wonderful. When I realized we had actually raised 20,000 dollars, I learned that action leads to achieving incredible

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