Couch, Tiera

I chose social work as a profession because I am passionate about enhancing the

wellbeing of others. Early on, I was influenced by my mother's altruistic nature with little
resources she acted as a supporter, provider and caregiver for many of our friends and family.
The state of the community in which I grew up was also an inspiration for my career choice. I
witnessed the acts and effects of domestic violence, child abuse, incarceration, drug distribution
and use, alcoholism, discrimination, underemployment, homelessness, mental illness and the
overwhelming shortage of tools and services to address those issues. Not only am I affected by
social inequalities and injustices I feel compelled to do something about them. I believe that
along with my education and the right skills my insight will be useful in building healthy clientworker relationships and developing policies that comprehensively address clients needs.
In pursuing my MSW degree, I hope to gain the skills necessary to be an effective
professional and a contribution to the social work field. Continuing my education will not only
provide me with the tools to be a competent social worker but also allow for self-development
and personal growth. I would also like to gain experience while learning by interning in various
environments. Through coursework and field placement, I hope to be challenged and pushed
beyond my comfort zone.
Education is very important to me. I believe that through obtaining an education people
can create opportunities for themselves to improve their lives, as well as others. I come from a
family where the majority of the adults did not finish high school. I understand the barriers to
completing school as well as the self-doubt that is perpetuated throughout impoverished families
and communities. Not until I was guided by my school counselor senior year of high school did I
believe college was a viable option for me. I believe that her help and support changed the course
of my life. For these reasons, I want to work as a school social worker, my passion for educating

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children and solidifying their futures along with my desire to break dysfunctional cycle, enhance
confidence, and improve coping abilities early on leads me to believe that school social work is
my calling.
I currently intern in a school setting, there I witnessed first hand the obstacles some
students face just making it through the school day. My education thus far has prepared me for
working with students in both one on one and group settings. Prior to entering the social work
program, I was considered a natural helper but through my education I learned the appropriate
approaches to engaging clients and the seriousness of setting boundaries. I also learned the
importance of respecting the client's autonomy by working along with them to develop solutions
to their problems instead of offering advice. In addition, I learned the importance of working
with others and using their feedback as a learning tool. With those skills, I have been able to
build healthy worker-client relationships with my caseload and work well with my fellow
interns, as well as the rest of the schools staff. Through my internship I have had a wealth of
experiences from managing my caseload, working with involuntary clients, working on a task
group to produce an educational seminar, documenting a child abuse claim, working with school
staff on various projects and observing as my supervisor handled a range of cases.
In conceptualizing social work practice with different client systems, I would first
identify the specific system and the challenges they face. I would identify the client system by
learning their demographic information, history and current status and how all of these elements
affect their coping capacities and abilities. I would also assess the clients strengths, resources,
and expectations in order to work with them on determining goals and projected outcomes.
Moreover, I would assess how the client's characteristics (race, class, gender, etc) determine how
they are affected by discrimination and oppression. After identifying these elements, I would

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then think about what actions need to be taken on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. After
determining the above information, I would choose an intervention based on best practices used
in serving each population.
One of the barriers to reaching client systems is a disproportionate amount of people in
power who relate to the population they serve. Clients go to agencies seeking help and
sometimes the policies created to help them act as barriers. Like we learn through internships our
educations provide the knowledge and tools to work in the field but through experience and
practice we learn to customize our approaches to service various populations. In my personal
life, I have experienced and borne witness to much adversity and through these experience I have
developed an understanding that enhances my ability to service marginalized populations.
In order to maintain coursework, working full time, interning and my personal life I
learned to be flexible in order to keep balance and function under pressure. In order to address
feeling overwhelmed I practice self-care by making time to do things I enjoy like read and spend
time with friends and family. Through my time in the BSW program, I learned to work with
others and how important their input and feedback is to my education. I learned to be assertive,
tactful and to be a leader, as well as a team player. I have always been overly self-critical, but I
am learning to take my mistakes as learning experiences. In each of these areas, I am
continuously evolving.
The larger part of my adolescence was spent in southwest Detroit, an area that is
occupied by a wide range of people from diverse cultures and ethnicities. I spent the latter part of
my adolescence and early adulthood on the west side of Detroit an area that has a predominately
African American population. Early in my upbringing I learned to see people as people to
embrace others differences and be open-minded. Later I learned about the segregation that exists

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in Michigan and what it can mean to others to be African American. My upbringing molded me
into someone who feels an affinity for all people and as a Detroit native I am compatible with the
schools urban mission, I am a part of the urban mission.
In order to finance my education, I will use personal funds, grants, scholarships, and
loans. In order to decrease the amount of debt, I financed my education by attending community
college the first two years, which I paid for with personal funds. In order to cope with the
demands of the graduate program, I will continue to maintain balance by practicing self-care and
utilizing the support of my family. I know that obtaining an MSW degree will be challenging, but
I am hardworking and dedicated to making the life changes necessary to be successful in the
program.