So, I've got my reservations when it comes to talking about graduate school with People in General, mostly because I'm so emotionally invested at the moment that the possibility of facing the humiliation of explaining (should I need to) that I was rejected, is just too much to bear. That said, I can't shut up about it.
That said, I'm having a shitty week. I want to put something positive out there. So here is this: one of the many personal statements I slaved over these past few months. I'm not saying it's my best writing, but it's a reaffirmation of one of the goals I'm working toward and that is needed at the mome.
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When I graduated from college in 2005, words like “advocacy,” “equity,” and “social justice” were not a part of my daily lexicon. As a history major, I was instead focused on pursuing a career in museum work, excited by the idea of working for institutions that provide access to knowledge and experiential learning opportunities for children and adults alike. Two years later, here I am, instead applying to the Politics and Education M.A. Program at Teachers College, because my passion for education and community engagement has morphed into a fervid commitment to service.
The turning point came six months after graduation when I accepted a job at the Access to Justice Institute, part of the law school at Seattle University, which, as a Jesuit university, is dedicated to "educating lawyers for a just and humane world." Immediately upon joining the Institute, I found myself embedded in a world of public interest attorneys and social justice advocacy. Since then, my days have been defined by constant, and often frustrating, revelations about the class disparities, race and gender discrimination, legal, health and education inequities that are pervasive in our communities locally and nationwide.
I continued to pursue my passion for museum work for some time after joining the Institute, but found the disconnect between my interest in museums and my daily work increasingly uncomfortable to reconcile: my weekends were spent in the classroom learning how to correctly label and store 200-year old textiles while my weekdays were spent assisting severely disadvantaged populations in the middle of often desperate situations. It soon became obvious that no museum exhibit, no matter how well researched and brilliantly marketed, was going to change the reality of the survivors of abuse, immigrants, and disabled, homeless, and non-English speaking clients I interact with everyday at work.
As hard as my colleagues and I work to assist clients and educate students about opportunities for service, however, I am often frustrated that our position is a reactive one: relieving symptoms, not providing long-term solutions to underlying problems. This experience at the Institute has drawn me toward policy work as a more direct and effective means of affecting change.
As someone who believes education has the potential to disrupt seemingly perpetual
patterns of inequality, I am especially interested in policy and community work that
supports educational equity and advocates for the well-being of children and families. Our current social policies are often adversarial in alleviating stresses on poor families, which in turn are stresses on children, creating patterns of adversity from a young age. I want to play a part in creating an infrastructure of sustainable and compassionate educational policy solutions, with the hope that through education we can equip future generations with the tools to alleviate the disproportionate burdens that exist in so many of our communities.
The values of Teachers College reflect the same values that have propelled me into the field of education policy: a desire to understand the multi-faceted social problems that undercut educational progress, and a commitment to developing solutions. For those reasons I am especially drawn to the Campaign for Educational Equity and the work of Professors Amy Wells and Edmund Gordon, all of which I would consider invaluable sources of guidance, information and inspiration during my time at Teachers College. With our shared values and commitment to service, Teachers College can be assured that their investment in me as a student will be nurtured and constantly reinvested throughout my career.
