When the Darkness is Overwhelming by Hannah

When the Darkness is Overwhelming by Hannah - February 2019 Scholarship Essay

“The greatest cruelty is our casual blindness to the despair of others.” - Michael Straczynski

The woman with the tear-streaked face in the airport is flying back to Georgia after hearing that her fiancé was just killed. The person with slumped shoulders and slow gait walking across the street is planning to take her own life in a few hours. The dimple-faced twelve year old may be giggling right now, but last night she cried herself to sleep after her parents held a screaming match in the kitchen. Again.

This is the society I live in: broken, hurting, and despairing. Too often the messy aspects of people’s lives are overlooked because the darkness is overwhelming. Too often society is blind to the grief-stricken, the hopeless, and the lonely because the darkness is overwhelming. Too often no one cares because the darkness is overwhelming.

But I care. And I’m ready to be a light of hope.

This is why I am going into social work for college next year: to be a voice, to be a heart, and to be the hands and feet where light is unknown to humanity. My aspiration is to become a professional helping hand for society, specifically utilizing play therapy (a type of treatment that explores life events through toys or fun) and art therapy (a type of treatment that expresses feeling through creative work rather than speech). Because I am passionate about caring for kids, something that started during my toddler years when I roleplayed “mom” to my baby dolls and younger sister, I am excited to learn how to utilize play tools, such as a storytelling or dressing up, to aid a child’s emotional development during play therapy. And as an artist, I am eager to learn how to use doodling, finger painting, and sculpting to aid clients in enhancing their communication.

This fervor to dive into social work and be a light will be accomplished at John Brown University, where I will begin attending this autumn. Planning to major in Family and Human Services, my classes will teach me: (1) How to develop personal characteristics that will promote holistic self-awareness; (2) How to tackle challenges that arise in relationships; (3) How to serve in professional helping positions. Play therapy, psychology, and child development courses will then aid me in obtaining my Masters in Counseling. This will open my career opportunities to be a caseworker, child advocate, adoption specialist, or licensed clinician at youth homes, addiction centers, and other similar agencies.

Social work may not shout glamour, wealth, or prestige, but it does shout hope. This is how I will not turn a blind eye towards my despairing world. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.” And when the darkness is overwhelming, I intend to be that light. This is my future.