Angelita S.

Pierce
MSW Personal Interest Statement

My first encounter with a social worker was at the age of 16. It was during a period when
my maternal grandfather was living with my mother and me due to a long term diagnosis of
Alzheimers. After the first couple of years his care began to take a toll on our lives. I have a
vivid memory of the day my mother explained to me that later that week, the family would be
meeting with a social worker to help us determine the best type of care for my grandfather. She
knew that our daily schedules and the required care for him called for outside intervention.
Hearing that, caused me to worry about my grandfather because I had heard only
negative comments of what the duties of a social worker entailed. Other people such as my
relatives and peers from school had said, that social workers decided who did or did not get a
welfare check, split up families by putting children in foster homes, and put old people in
nursing homes. Im sure I must have heard some positive things during those mid teen years, but
the negative is what stood out when my mother spoke of one coming for my grandfather.
Fortunately for me, my mother filled in the gaps of my original thoughts.
On the day of the meeting Sheryl Cooper attended and introduced herself as the social
worker assigned to assist the family in creating the proper living situation for my grandfather.
Right from the start her overall demeanor was one of kindness, empathy and sincere concern.
She almost felt like a member of the family. I think it was then that I realized the positive impact
a social worker could have on individuals and families. As I grew older, met an talked to others
in the field of social work (including two paternal aunts and a cousin), I began to not only
understand what they did, but also to develop a greater appreciation for their work Although I
had other ideas for careers I now had an interest in social work.

Angelita S. Pierce
MSW Personal Interest Statement

Utilizing the skills I hope to develop in the Masters program, it is my career objective to
become a social worker in an area allowing me to work with the youth/adolescent population.
The program will help me further develop ideas and techniques for promoting social justice and
actual justice for the betterment of the population I hope to work with. This group was
introduced to me from working at a child daycare and then again during my first field placement,
and I seemed to bond well with this particular age group. I did my field placement with a
Maternal Infant Health Program (MIHP) agency, where I performed assessments and provided
women (the majority of them pregnant) and babies from infants until 18 months of age as long as
they were Medicaid eligible with resources to help them to gain housing, transportation, support
groups and numerous other forms of aid more. Interacting with the female/mother population
was a wonderful and self-fulfilling experience because I am a single mother of a brilliant yet
busy 2 year old boy, and because most of my clients are also single mothers of some small
children, that enabled me to relate to many of their concerns. Even though I provided help for
my clients I was also rewarded because I was able to gain understanding for their situations.
Children are our future and I look forward to a career in which I can make a difference in their
lives it is a great satisfaction knowing that I have made a difference in their lives.
My interest in working with the youth/adolescent population came towards the end of the
first semester of the BW program. Initially, I thought I wanted to work with the aging
population, until I was arrested, charged with Domestic Violence (DV) and put on probation for a
situation between myself and my sons father in June of 2013. As part of my probation I was
ordered to attend a DV class that met once a week for 30 weeks. Every week I would attend this
class and listen to the women tell their horrifying stories about how they and their children had to
endure physical and mental abuse. Having to take an oath of confidentiality I could not relay

Angelita S. Pierce
MSW Personal Interest Statement

their stories to my friends or family, and felt a sense of helplessness. The DV class has taught
me to stop blaming others for my actions and start owning up and taking responsibility for the
things I do. I believe this experience has made me a stronger person and I will bring what I
learned to my social work practice.
The BSW program has enabled me to enhance my critical skills and gain knowledge in
order to promote social, economic and cultural justice for the youth/adolescent population. I
earned career-related and hands-on experience through field work courses and practice
experiences. Specifically in my SW 3020 (Winter 2014) course with professor Huff I learned the
importance of the Generalist Intervention Model (GIM) in social work. The GIM is a basic
model that keeps clients as well as the social worker on track with the clients progress. This
model will be very useful to me in the near future as it will allow me to assess my clients and it
will better help me with finding proper resources for my clients,
My career goal with the MSW degree also includes working in the Detroit Metropolitan
area within a hospital or school setting that provides support for youth/adolescent clients.
Dealing with this particular group, I know that would also generally include working with their
parent/guardian, which would allow me to connect both parent and client with suitable resources
and support groups as needed.
I know I have many strengths that are beneficial to the practice of social work. One of
my strengths is integrity. One of the many things my mother instilled in my sister and I is
respect for others and integrity. Although we are all different in some way or another the one
thing that should be in common with us all is that we treat each other with respect. Integrity and
respect both go hand in hand with the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of
ethics that emphasizes that social work is about helping individuals in any way possible.

Angelita S. Pierce
MSW Personal Interest Statement

Another one of my strengths for social work is also seen in my concern for social issues in this
field particularly child abuse. Being the recent assistant to the director of a child daycare I have
come into contact with many children and their parents of different religious backgrounds, races
and cultures I was faced with few challenges. As I stated before, although I want to work with
the youth/adolescent population, I do understand that due to legal age laws that majority of the
time I will be working with the parent/guardian. Working at the daycare has taught me more
patience and to be less judgmental. I am no longer working there due to my educational
priorities, yet I still carry with me the lessons I learned while there.
When it comes to coping with the demands of the graduate studies at WSU I have begun
to implement various strategies, such as changing my work shifts and cutting back the hours I
work each week. By cutting back from 45-50 hours per week to 25-30 hours per week, I will be
able to study more, research, complete my internship, and spend time with my loving son, who is
also a top priority along with my education. With continual prayer and support from my loving
family and friends I know that I will be able to focus on my graduate studies and ultimately
achieve the goal of getting my MSW degree.
Along with coping with the demands of the MSW program, I know that there will also be
financial demands to follow. I plan to cope with the financial demands of the graduate studies by
reducing my spending, such as my weekly dinning out and limiting my social gatherings. I do,
however, plan on speaking with a financial aid advisor to learn about the different types of
funding available, application procedures, and deadlines in order to plan for financing my
graduate school education. Instead of only applying for Wayne States scholarships I will also be
applying for the School of Social Work scholarships as well as external scholarships. Lastly, my

Angelita S. Pierce
MSW Personal Interest Statement

son and I will continue living with my mother until I have completed the MSW program which
will allow me to continue to save my money for any financial burdens that may come.
Knowledge is not what you remember, but what you cannot forget Anonymous.
With the lessons I have learned from the BSW program and hopefully with the future lessons I
will learn from the MSW program I will be able to be a confident and competent social worker to
my future client(s). If I am accepted into Wayne States MSW program I would bring my love,
caring heart and determination to help and build others up, especially those in the
youth/adolescent population.