motivational statement
We would like to understand more about you and your reasons for applying to AmeriCorps. Take a few minutes and consider those experiences that have made you the person you are today. Please share with us one of these experiences and how it sparked your interest in community service.
Please limit your response to 3000 characters.
Despite the fact that I am a minority, the child of first generation immigrants, and a woman, I am blessed with relative privilege. Having parents who are not only financially stable, but emotionally supportive both to me and to each other, is something that many people cannot take for granted. My knowledge of the plight of those who are less fortunate than I am has come almost exclusively from my college education and from reading. I learned early in my life about poverty in other parts of the world. In college, however, I first learned about oppression and its influence on poverty both domestically and internationally. I knew I could not single-handedly erase all forms of oppression, and indeed, I still cannot do such a thing. What I realized I could do, however, was use my skills to help those who had suffered from the effects of different kinds of oppression, including racism and classism, xenophobia, or misogyny, to rise above it. This realization drove me to help at-risk youth, work with immigrant families, and educate my university about violence against women.
I got involved with Madison House, the volunteering program umbrella of the University of Virginia. Through Madison House, I started working with at-risk adolescents enrolled in a program called Teens Give. My role was to send these kids a strong, clear message that they have it in them to lead successful lives and that they could take pride in the work that they do. The kids in the program would go on to work part time jobs, graduate high school, and earn driver’s licenses. Interacting with the mentors and conducting their service project equipped kids with skills like patience and empathy. I had the pleasure of being part of that process.
After I started learning Spanish, again through Madison House, I participated in the program Migrant Aid. This time, I got to use my knowledge of a foreign language to connect with immigrant families who faced several challenges to success. I helped the parents learn English and count and change dollars and cents. This directly equipped the parents to adjust to life in the United States. I worked with the kids on homework, which directly gave them a leg up in their education. Interacting with these families offered a chance to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps.
I was also part of the Sexual Assault Education Office. As a sexual assault peer educator, I gave presentations to incoming first years on how to respond to sexual assault. I assisted in presentations to fraternities, sororities, and sports teams about healthy relationships and intimate partner violence. I listened as women came forward to share their experiences dealing with abuse and violence. I could not singlehandedly end violence against women, and I could not singlehandedly hold perpetrators accountable. I could, however, be an ally to those who had survived it. I could educate others to be allies to victims of sexual and gender-based violence. I could speak up whenever I heard something that was demeaning to women.
In this way, learning about oppression drove me to community service.
Please limit your response to 3000 characters.
Despite the fact that I am a minority, the child of first generation immigrants, and a woman, I am blessed with relative privilege. Having parents who are not only financially stable, but emotionally supportive both to me and to each other, is something that many people cannot take for granted. My knowledge of the plight of those who are less fortunate than I am has come almost exclusively from my college education and from reading. I learned early in my life about poverty in other parts of the world. In college, however, I first learned about oppression and its influence on poverty both domestically and internationally. I knew I could not single-handedly erase all forms of oppression, and indeed, I still cannot do such a thing. What I realized I could do, however, was use my skills to help those who had suffered from the effects of different kinds of oppression, including racism and classism, xenophobia, or misogyny, to rise above it. This realization drove me to help at-risk youth, work with immigrant families, and educate my university about violence against women.
I got involved with Madison House, the volunteering program umbrella of the University of Virginia. Through Madison House, I started working with at-risk adolescents enrolled in a program called Teens Give. My role was to send these kids a strong, clear message that they have it in them to lead successful lives and that they could take pride in the work that they do. The kids in the program would go on to work part time jobs, graduate high school, and earn driver’s licenses. Interacting with the mentors and conducting their service project equipped kids with skills like patience and empathy. I had the pleasure of being part of that process.
After I started learning Spanish, again through Madison House, I participated in the program Migrant Aid. This time, I got to use my knowledge of a foreign language to connect with immigrant families who faced several challenges to success. I helped the parents learn English and count and change dollars and cents. This directly equipped the parents to adjust to life in the United States. I worked with the kids on homework, which directly gave them a leg up in their education. Interacting with these families offered a chance to bridge cultural and linguistic gaps.
I was also part of the Sexual Assault Education Office. As a sexual assault peer educator, I gave presentations to incoming first years on how to respond to sexual assault. I assisted in presentations to fraternities, sororities, and sports teams about healthy relationships and intimate partner violence. I listened as women came forward to share their experiences dealing with abuse and violence. I could not singlehandedly end violence against women, and I could not singlehandedly hold perpetrators accountable. I could, however, be an ally to those who had survived it. I could educate others to be allies to victims of sexual and gender-based violence. I could speak up whenever I heard something that was demeaning to women.
In this way, learning about oppression drove me to community service.