Now 27, I came to America from my native Bangladesh at the age of 12, just in time to learn to speak English really well, with an accent that is barely noticeable. Still, I was old enough when I made this journey to remember well my land of origin with its culture, language, and feelings.
Most of all, I not only successfully survived the immigrant experience at a delicate age, but I did so in inner-city America. Thus, my application to your program is strengthened by the wisdom that I have gained from a lifetime of experience so far dealing directly with the challenges faced by minority groups in our urban setting, including recent immigrants. My familiarity of the general social context and resources (or lack thereof) of those individuals that I seek to help will help me to excel as a student in your MFT Program at XXXX College. I look forward to contributing to the diversity of your program as a Bangladeshi woman with extensive experience working in New York City and learning about the many challenges faced by people of color and their families in our inner cities.
I hope to spend my professional lifetime caring for children, protecting them, and doing so by keeping their family together if at all possible by becoming a very hard working MFT professional. Your distinguished MFT program at XXXX College is my first choice for graduate school for a number of reasons principal of which is the opportunities that you offer for students to gain “real world” experience and participate in an internship program.
I am most essentially an introvert who is much more interested in the lives of others than I am my own. I simply love to listen to people and their stories. Every person I encounter intrigues me and I become curious about their backgrounds, their likes and dislikes, and the mundane details that shape their daily lives. Even though I am often told that I am shy and quiet, I exude a certain warmth that makes people feel comfortable in my presence and opens them up so that they feel comfortable sharing with me.
When I graduated from High School, I didn't know what I wanted to do but I knew that I wanted to work with people. I did know that I did not want to sit behind a desk and stare at a computer all day. I knew that I wanted face-to-face human interaction and emotional engagement. That is the reason I majored in Family and Consumer Sciences, so as to build a special focus on the family. While in college, I decided that I wanted to pursue my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy but unfortunately my father died and I had to put my professional goals on the back burner for the time being. Now 27, my dad died a few months shy of my 25th birthday. He literally dropped dead in front of us of a massive stroke, leaving me behind along with my bereaving mother, who barely speaks English, and my two younger siblings, aged 9 and 11 at the time. Growing up we didn't have much but my dad provided enough so that we never felt like we were missing out on anything. After his death, I realized how much he did for us. As the oldest of the family, I had to steer the ship, however, and despite the fact that dad was a hard worker, he left us with a lot of debt.
Not only did I have to face my own emotional challenges and financial hardships, and help my mom and younger siblings, but I also had to deal with the pressures of our community. In our Bangladeshi community, girls are supposed to be married by a certain age and people were starting to shame my mother and started calling me a spinster. People would tell me that I should find a suitable husband for myself so he could take care of me and my family. I always had rebuttals for these statements but they would make my mother very upset.
I also dated men outside of my culture and this caused a great stir in our community. And in the midst of all this, I also learned that my younger sister was being severely bullied at school. She lost 40 pounds in one school year along with racking up 30 absences. I had to go through hell and high water to change her school. I also found a good therapist for her who addressed her issues. The death of my father took a great toll on my family and life was not easy; but facing up to these difficulties was excellent experience and it strengthened me, making me into the kind of person who can be a highly effective counselor, well versed with respect to the challenges faced by typical families and sincerely concerned and engaged.
My family and I eventually overcame these challenges and we are all in a better place now. My personal challenges helped me realize that I want to help families that are vulnerable, marginalized, with few resources, and all too often on top of that beset by most unfortunate circumstances, such as in my case with an entirely unexpected death in the family. I want to help them to find better ways to communicate more effectively so that the family is able to pull together to overcome day-to-day challenges and strengthen relationships.
My professional experience so far has been as an Administrative Assistant in the area of office management and staff support, this past year with XXXX Inc. in Jamaica, New York. Prior to this position I indulged my special love for children which I intend to continue to develop for a long lifetime of research and practice in the psychological care of children in our community. As a Study Plan Teacher of XXXX World Early Learning Center in Springfield Gardens, New York from November of 2013 through June of 2014, I enormously enjoyed working with assigned groups of infants and toddlers applying best practices for infant/toddler care. I made a special effort in each case to facilitate and nurture the development of each child’s self-esteem, trust, and sense of autonomy, planning and implementing lesson plan activities and experiences that were developmentally appropriate, accurately documenting initial and ongoing development using screening and assessment tools at established intervals.
I want to build a career as a marriage and family therapist because MFT helps individuals within the context of their relationships with others; and I believe strongly that effective therapy needs to be focused on the set of relationships in which the person is imbedded. Your program at XXXX College with prepare me for a professional lifetime of excellence, meeting with families, listening to specific concerns, and offering strategies for communication, affection, and compromise. I hope to repair cracks in family foundations for many decades to come.
I thank you for considering my application.