Erin Fowler

COMM 1950

Dr. Kristen Majocha

14 September 2016

Advocate

Core Values: There is a passage in the Bible from Proverbs, “She is clothed in strength

and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.” (Proverbs 31:25). This passage is

particularly poignant to me, not only as someone who has watched people struggle with anxiety,

depression, and other mental illness, but as someone who has also faced it head on. I have

successfully overcome my depression and can cope with my anxiety, and it has made me a better

person. However, there are thousands of people who struggle with severe mental illness and my

goal is to be their advocate.

In the past, I have volunteered at Pressley Ridge Day School in Johnstown. This

opportunity truly solidified what I want to do with my career. The first day I was there was

probably the most profound. I was placed in an Autism Support Classroom for severely low

functioning students. There were seven students in the classroom and all of them but one were

male. Five of the seven were non-verbal, and one was un-diagnosable; meaning he was not on

the autism spectrum, but just incredibly mentally ill.

I walked into the classroom and was immediately told to sit in the corner furthest away

from that particular student, as he could have some violent tendencies toward new people in the

classroom. I sat in my designated chair, my jaw clenched shut and my shoulders tight, waiting in

anxious anticipation to see what would happen. Much to my surprise (and relief) nothing of great

surprise happened that day. I read the students a book and they did their work. There were some

meltdowns and moments where aids had to jump in front of me or other students, but it was just

a normal day.

I left that day with tears in my eyes; not tears of fear or sadness, but tears of the sincerest

form of gratitude and hope that I have ever experienced. I felt incredibly humbled to be a part of

these students’ education, but also full of hope for my own future. My problems felt insignificant

and fixable; my heart was full of love and hope for these students. That is when I knew what I

wanted to do, what I was meant to do with my life. I was going to be the hope and the advocate

for these students. It is what I work for every day.

Beliefs: My truest and deepest belief in life is that every person, regardless of ability or

disability, should be able to learn in an environment that is conducive to their needs and that is

highly encouraging. My heart sincerely belongs in the mental health and special education fields.

Every person with one of these conditions is capable of great things, but only if the people

around them are supportive. I aim to be that supportive person, even if only in one person’s life.

I believe that a person must be completely aware of themselves before they can help

another person. This is why I cited the above passage. I have had to work through many personal

struggles in order to get to the place that I am in now. A very wise person once told me “you

have to save yourself before you can save the world”. That was the soundest piece of advice that

anyone has ever given to me, and it is incredibly true. Now that I believe I have found myself

and have established my beliefs, I really do plan on being the person to help change peoples’

lives. Even, If I only influence one person, at least someone can say their life was better because

of something I did or said.

Personal/Professional Characteristics: Despite being fairly aware of my characteristics

and beliefs as a person, I did have difficulty determining words to describe me as a person. I

decided I would ask someone who has known me for a long time to write down some words that

they believe describe me. The words that she gave me were: honest, humble, sincere, nurturing,

trustworthy, loving, and having a sense of humor.

While all of these words were incredibly flattering, I did take a deeper look as to how

they applied to me as a person and my “brand”. As someone who is interested in helping people

through hard times, the words that seemed most applicable were sincere, nurturing, and

trustworthy. These are adjectives that I am proud to be a bearer of; they confirm my goals and

my career aspirations. They also are true to my brand and what I hope I represent as a person.

In terms of my professional characteristics, I would like to think of myself as a highly

professional individual when necessary. I am also highly personable and have good

communication skills in both verbal and written forms. At my current job in a daycare, I had to

learn how to effectively communicate issues with parents as well as with my coworkers and

supervisors. Communication is important in all job fields, however, I feel that in fields such as

education, child care, and social services, communication is even more important. Though it may

seem cliché, the future of a child is in the hands of his or her teacher. Teachers must be able to

communicate issues and successes to parents and guardians. This requires a high level of

communication competency as well as a degree of trustworthiness.

I do believe that people can improve in many aspects of their lives, especially their

professional lives. I am no exception to this rule; there are definitely some professional and

personal characteristics that I could work on. One of them, and perhaps the most important one,

is the ability to remove myself emotionally from a situation. In the social services field, there are

many incredibly sad situations that people face every day. If I want to help people in these

situations, I need to be able to remove myself from emotionally attaching myself to their issues

and taking personal responsibility for them. This is something I struggle with nearly every day; I

have such a strong desire to help people, but I need to remind myself that not everybody wants to

be helped.

Goals/Key Commitments: My goal is to get my Master’s degree in either Clinical

Social Work or in Guidance Counseling. Both of these jobs would allow me to work with clients

at a counseling level, but would also allow me to work in the school setting that I love. I have a

strong drive to help students with disabilities reach their goals, and both of these careers would

help me achieve that goal.

My ultimate goal is to somehow establish a scholarship or find a program to allow

students with disabilities go to school in whatever kind of setting would be best suited for them;

whether that be private, public, home, or cyber schooling. People with disabilities deserve the

right to choose where they receive their education just as typically abled people do. Private

schools do not get the state funding for disabled students like public schools do, so this causes

the private schools to be at a financial disadvantage. It also allows them the option to turn

students with disabilities away, which I believe is a basic violation of rights.

All people have the ability to learn and to accomplish great things. My goal and my brand

represent this. I have overcome my obstacles, and so can any person with similar issues. No one

person is without their problems, and some handle it better than others. My goal for myself and

my brand is to be the influential person for people to come to. I want to be the trusted confidant

that believes in students and people with disabilities or mental illness. As I said earlier, every

person, regardless of ability or disability, is sacred and deserves the chance to learn and thrive.

By increasing education and knowledge, the path to my goal becomes more easily achieved.