I was born in San Antonio, Texas but flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma to live with my Caucasian adoptive family when I was three months old. While I would not find this out for many years, it is of central relevance to what I have become personally and my professional goals for the future. As an African American woman raised by white parents, I grew up throughout my formative years with a label that said, ‘adopted child’. Some of my earliest memories are associated with comments concerning my color as compared to that of my parents. Thus, I wrestled incredibly early on with profound questions of color, identity, parenthood, and racism, in a variety of forms, some more subtle than others. This is quite clearly a primary factor why I seek to devote my life to at-risk children, particularly children of color—in all shades—those who need community care.
Now 25 years old, along with my undergraduate studies at ____ University in ____, the most formative experience of my life has been my volunteer work at the Community Food Bank of XXXX. It is a private hunger-relief organization that provides food and other donated products to 450 Partner Programs in twenty-four counties in eastern Oklahoma. I worked in the food pantry sorting and putting labels on food cans and assisted in loading the food truck. I soon discovered that this work gave me the keenest sense of accomplishment and productivity. I sorted and boxed toiletries, clothes, and toys and later authored a paper on our experience. One family at the food bank stands out as inspiration to my career development, a stay-at-home mom, a father who worked for a manufacturing company, and two children who were both in middle school. They all came together as volunteers, and I deeply admired their communal spirit. They did not have many friends or family in the area and just wanted to reach out and connect, precise the type of spirit that I look forward to fostering in the future both as a professional and a volunteer in the community.
I am troubled as a member of our community here in ____ by people who are focused primarily on what they do not have, what they are not accomplishing, and what they want. I am troubled by what I see in our community as an ‘every person for themselves’ mentality with lifeboat ethics that leave little to no room for some of the most vulnerable among us. My keen sense of social justice that I have been cultivating for some time is grounded in my experience as an African American child and later woman in a small American town with few Black people and few minorities of other ethnic groups. Thus, even though my parents were white, I have long felt myself to be the ‘other’ in my own society, which has resulted, I feel, in both my keen interest in questions of identity and my extremely high motivation to excel in your graduate program in counseling. I am most pleased you’re your counseling program places a high priority on the importance of diversity and the need to reach out to, better understand and subsequently better serve those members of our community who are from underprivileged backgrounds.
Fundamental to my own sense of identity, both personal and professional, is that I am more than an African American or a member of a minority ethnic community. I am primarily, a woman and it does not matter what color my mother was, either adopted or biological. While studying in college I noticed that there is still a lack of respect and a hostile undercurrent directed against women--especially those of color-- in roles of power and this makes me angry, fueling my rise. I very much admire and reflect upon the long history of struggle on the part of my sisters before me--of all colors--and I treasure the way in which this struggle has made it possible for a young woman to launch her own private practice.
I think most white parents who adopt Black children are good people. Mine were, still are. This did not mitigate the challenge, however; but my parents did help to cushion the blows as best they could, and they have taught me useful coping strategies throughout my life concerning my quest to mold my own identity. I hope to continue to turn to them for inspiration for many decades to come, as I develop my career both during and after your program and I continue to face challenges, especially as a professional who seeks to shoulder responsibility and provide care to those with the greatest need and the fewest resources with which to repay me. My parents are kind people who also love their community, and my autobiography is in many ways little more than a tribute to a couple of normal, decent white folk who did the absolute best they could with a little Black girl who was always a real handful.
Thank you for considering my application to your program and I hope to meet you in person.
Autobiographical Statement Sketch MS Counseling Psychology
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