1. Sarah Wicks / Personal Statement 1
I knew that crossing over into the world of parenthood would forever change me,
and as my little boy turned one this year, I sense the many ways that my heart and mind
have been transformed since he came into my life. One of the major awakenings his
presence has given me is my strong desire to attend graduate school to become a
professionally trained social worker. My aspiration to be a social worker started
manifesting itself well before I even knew how to name it and is something I have kept in
my back pocket for many years. Similar to the anxieties I struggled with in the early
months of parenthood, I was unsure of whether I had the courage to open myself up to the
commitment and heartbreak one takes on as a social worker. Becoming a parent has
taught me that we cannot strive to make the world a better place from the outside looking
in, rather, we need to have courage to completely immerse ourselves and work for the
change we want to see, allowing it to transform us in the process.
Empathy has always been one of my strongest qualities, and even as a young girl I
couldn’t help but feel deeply connected to minority groups as I learned about injustice
and prejudice. In the fourth grade I became entirely obsessed with, “The Diary of Anne
Frank,” reading it four times that summer. Continually digging for an understanding of
why something like the holocaust would ever happen, it is one of my first memories of
grasping the consequences of prejudice, ignorance and hate. When I turned twelve years
old, I was offered the gift of an American Girl doll of my choosing, and instead of
selecting the one that looked most like me, I stubbornly fought to have Addy, the African
American doll with the life story of a southern plantation slave. Even then I felt a strong
obligation to ally myself with someone experiencing suffering and injustice. And now I

2. Sarah Wicks / Personal Statement 2
have my own child, who I want to raise to be courageous in the face of injustice, and kind
in the face of hate.
While I can recall different experiences that prepared the ground for me to
consider a career in social work, I think the seeds started to take root while serving as a
Jesuit Volunteer Corps member in 2007-08. Living in intentional community with four
other volunteers in south central Los Angeles and providing low-cost legal services to
primarily Central American immigrants, I was truly following a call to service and social
justice when I left my rural college town in Iowa. While that year was one of the best of
my life, it also came with an abundance of challenges. One of the most challenging
aspects for me was a nagging feeling of inadequacy when it came to serving the clients at
our organization. Sure, I could listen to their stories, offer a list of resources, assist them
in completing forms, even conduct in-depth consultations in Spanish, but I struggled with
the notion of wanting to do more, provide more and simply not having the formal training
and educational preparation to know where to start.
While serving in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, I worked closely with Hispanic
immigrant women who were filing VAWA and U-Visa applications, qualifying for these
programs because they were survivors of violent crimes who had cooperated with police
in the criminal investigation process or survivors of domestic violence at the hands of
their legal resident or U.S. citizen spouses. My colleagues told me that I excelled at
offering compassion, encouragement and basic services. Of the 20 or so cases I worked
on at any given time, I usually became quite close with clients, working with them from
start to finish creating and submitting their applications to immigration services. I
listened, transcribed and translated their personal testimony of the horrors they endured,

3. Sarah Wicks / Personal Statement 3
and I had the opportunity to witness a beautiful transformation as they went from an
undocumented victim hiding in the shadows of society, to an individual with legal
documentation who claimed their story of suffering and turned it into an opportunity for
change. That experience made me wonder how much more I could offer with the
knowledge and tools of a highly skilled master’s of social work program.
My beliefs toward social work have been greatly influenced by my understanding
of the significance of one’s voice. Growing up, I was raised in a single-parent household
by my mom. It was always just the two of us, and that close-knit family dynamic of a
female-based household lent itself particularly well to a lot of practice giving voice to
feelings, talking through problems and asking for forgiveness. As an undergraduate
student I pursued a degree in Spanish. I not only wanted to master a foreign language but
also to learn how to operate as a culturally competent individual by living abroad and
working in homes, classrooms and offices with diverse populations. Drawing on the
richness I experienced through communication in my family life, I sought opportunities
that would invite new ways of communication with populations that are often considered
the “other” and without a voice in our society.
In my final year at Luther College, I completed my senior research paper on the
topic of Postville, Iowa, a rural town where I taught English and volunteered at the food
pantry. I conducted personal interviews with my ELL students and combined their stories
with other research to study the causes of shifting migration patterns from urban to rural
areas. Coming to college from St. Paul, Minnesota, I did not expect to encounter much
diversity in northeastern Iowa. I was surprised to learn that in many rural communities
populations are surging because of new waves of immigrants, primarily low-skilled

4. Sarah Wicks / Personal Statement 4
agricultural and industrial workers, such as in Postville, which is home to one of the
largest kosher meatpacking plants in the United States. I quickly observed that many rural
areas lacked the infrastructure, funding and training to help new immigrants find their
place in the community. This awareness encouraged me to pursue opportunities to be an
advocate for those who literally could not express a voice in our society, because of
language barriers and also because of economic, legal and cultural challenges. As
someone who desires to be a knowledgeable, capable social worker, I believe in the
importance of recognizing who in our communities exist without a voice, why their
voices are not heard and what we can do within our work and in partnership with others
to create a sense of empowerment for those vulnerable populations.
In the summer of 2013, I participated in the Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment as
part of a staff-training day at Luther College. This assessment is part of the
StrengthsQuest program, developed by Gallup’s Education Practice to assist participants
in gaining insights into how to use their talents to achieve academic success, explore
careers and develop their leadership skills. My top five strengths in order from highest to
lowest are adaptability, empathy, harmony, relator and developer.
I have learned that being cooperative and adaptable to situations as they arise can
be a steadying comfort to those I am working with and can allow for creativity to flourish
because I am not bound by the mantra of, “doing things the way they have always been
done.” Because of my strengths as a relator and developer, I find deep satisfaction in
working towards a common goal with others, which includes helping others recognize
and cultivate the potential in their own lives. I am drawn to the advanced generalist

5. Sarah Wicks / Personal Statement 5
approach of the master’s program because I want to help build upon my strengths and
discover new areas that could be a good fit for me as a practitioner.
While the majority of my social service experience is with new immigrant
populations, I am interested in learning more about clinical social work with individuals
and families, elder care, and hospital-based social work. The broad base approach offered
by this program suits my professional goals well because I see our family living in more
rural communities and I will need to have a well-rounded skill set to accommodate for
the different opportunities that may be available. I also believe that rural areas need social
workers with a broad understanding of the field because we will often be asked to work
in many roles due to constraints that often exist in smaller communities.
The MSW distance program is a great fit for my lifestyle in the coming years.
Currently based in Iowa, there are a limited number of schools to choose from and those
that are options would require a major relocation and change for our young family. It is
important to me that the program I am pursuing have the flexibility to work from any
location and require part-time study rather than full-time so I can continue to devote time
to my family and earn income. I am very compelled by the advanced generalist approach
of UND’s program. As a student in the Master of Social Work distance learning program,
I hope to build upon my beginning experiences in social justice work to mold me into a
responsive and competent social worker that is committed to empowering individuals and
communities. I know I have the motivation, support and confidence to achieve my goal of
becoming a competent and caring social worker and I believe that the University of North
Dakota’s Master of Social Work distance learning program will guide me toward that
accomplishment.