Seizing Opportunities and Making my Own by Camille

Seizing Opportunities and Making my Own by Camille - January 2016 Scholarship Essay

My New Year’s resolution that will help me become a better student in 2016 is to seize every opportunity that comes my way and to create my own opportunities. I am currently an advanced standing, Master of Social Work student at the University of Michigan. I have discovered a gap in education that is necessary for my future career goal of social policy analysis and program evaluation in the mental health field. The gap in education is in regards to quantitative/qualitative data analysis in the SPSS Statistical Software and the R Programming Software. Gaining skills in these courses would substantially enhance my career options and making me more competitive in the job market. So I have made it my New Year’s resolution to pursue these class for the benefit of my future in policy analysis and program evaluation.

I have two unpaid internships in research. The first is in regards to depression in African American women. The second is in regards to providing quality mental healthcare for women and infant mental health. I spend 32 hours conducting research for both of these projects. These are not required internships. These are opportunities that I chose to seize because it would be a great experience for me. In regards to scholarships and/or grants, they would be put toward continuing workshops and online classes to fill the gaps in my education. It would also be used to continue to be able to fund the gas and other expenses for going to conferences to present data and updates from my research. In closing, my New Year’s resolution that will help me become a better student in 2016 is to fill the gaps in my current education by attending workshops and online courses as well as to continue to pursue my own research.