Maya
Elena
Torres
4421
Spruce
Avenue
,
Tacoma
,
WA
98407
(253) 555-0147 ·
maya
.
torres
@
email
.
com
October
15, 2025
Personal
Statement
University
of
Washington
Master
of
Social
Work
Program
1 / 3
Growing
up
in
a
mixed
-
status
immigrant
family
in
Tacoma
,
I
learned
early
that
survival
and
dignity
often
depend
on
who
is
standing
beside
you
during
crisis
.
My
mother
worked
double
shifts
at
a
seafood
processing
plant
while
my
grandmother
raised
my
brother
and
me
in
a
small
duplex
near
the
Port
of
Tacoma
.
Money
was
tight
,
but
our
home
was
rich
with
boleros
,
tamales
,
and
neighborly
care
.
When
federal
immigration
officers
detained
a
neighbor
in
2014,
our
street
mobilized
within
hours
.
Families
shared
legal
aid
numbers
,
churches
opened
sanctuary
space
,
and
local
organizers
distributed
know
-
your
-
rights
pamphlets
in
Spanish
and
Tagalog
.
That
collective
response
was
my
first
lesson
in
community
resilience
.
I
realized
I
wanted
to
do
more
than
witness
hardship
;
I
wanted
to
equip
communities
with
structural
tools
to
resist
systemic
inequity
.
I
earned
my
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Sociology
at
Western
Washington
University
,
graduating
summa
cum
laude
in
June
2022.
My
senior
thesis
,
Stays
and
Strays
:
Housing
Instability
among
Latinx
Youth
in
Pierce
County
,
combined
ethnographic
interviews
with
GIS
mapping
to
show
how
school
district
boundaries
and
transit
deserts
intersect
to
displace
youth
of
color
.
Dr
.
Lena
Park
,
my
thesis
advisor
,
encouraged
me
to
translate
statistical
findings
into
narratives
that
could
move
policymakers
.
Presenting
that
research
to
the
Tacoma
Housing
Authority
taught
me
that
data
without
relationship
is
just
numbers
,
and
that
relationship
without
accountability
is
just
sentiment
.
Both
must
be
present
.
For
the
past
three
years
,
I
have
served
as
a
Family
Support
Specialist
at
the
Tacoma
YWCA
.
I
manage
a
rotating
caseload
of
fourteen
to
eighteen
families
who
are
navigating
domestic
violence
recovery
,
housing
transitions
,
and
child
welfare
coordination
.
My
days
include
safety
planning
with
mothers
in
our
emergency
shelter
,
facilitating
trauma
-
informed
parenting
groups
in
Spanish
,
and
collaborating
with
Washington
State
DSHS
to
secure
emergency
TANF
benefits
.
Last
year
,
I
co
-
designed
a
peer
mentorship
program
that
pairs
recent
program
graduates
with
incoming
residents
,
reducing
shelter
return
rates
by
twenty
-
three
percent
in
its
first
six
months
.
This
work
has
shown
me
that
effective
social
work
requires
humility
.
I
do
not
rescue
clients
;
I
walk
alongside
them
,
share
information
,
and
trust
their
expertise
on
their
own
lives
.
Social
work
is
not
charity
;
it
is
solidarity
.
The
NASW
Code
of
Ethics
grounds
my
practice
,
particularly
the
mandate
to
challenge
social
injustice
.
I
see
this
challenge
in
the
policies
that
separate
mixed
-
status
families
,
in
the
school
suspensions
that
criminalize
Black
and
Brown
grief
,
and
in
the
mental
health
deserts
that
leave
rural
immigrants
without
Spanish
-
speaking
providers
.
I
also
see
it
in
the
organizers
,
faith
leaders
,
and
street
-
level
caseworkers
who
refuse
these
conditions
.
My
role
is
to
join
them
with
clinical
skill
,
administrative
competence
,
and
an
unwavering
ethical
compass
.
My
immediate
goal
is
to
deepen
my
clinical
training
in
cognitive
behavioral
therapy
and
narrative
therapy
with
Latinx
populations
.
I
am
especially
interested
in
how
intergenerational
trauma
and
migration
grief
manifest
in
adolescent
mental
health
.
Long
term
,
I
hope
to
direct
a
community
-
based
organization
that
combines
mental
health
services
with
legal
aid
and
youth
mentorship
for
immigrant
families
in
the
South
Puget
Sound
region
.
The
University
of
Washington
'
s
Master
of
Social
Work
program
offers
exactly
the
community
-
integrated
practice
model
I
seek
.
Your
partnership
with
the
Refugee
Women
'
s
Alliance
and
the
chance
to
study
under
Dr
.
Samuel
Okonkwo
,
whose
research
on
displacement
and
belonging
has
shaped
my
own
thinking
,
make
this
program
my
clear
first
choice
.
I
bring
to
this
program
lived
experience
,
academic
rigor
,
and
an
unshakable
belief
that
healing
happens
in
community
.
I
am
ready
to
learn
,
to
serve
,
and
to
advocate
.
Respectfully
,
2 / 3
