I was seven years old and standing in an airport when I discovered what my ultimate goal in life was. My family and I were waiting for our taxi when I noticed a girl about my age staring at the stuffed animal that I held close to my chest. Without thinking, I handed the stuffed animal to her and and watched as her eyes lit up and a smile spread across her face; she held the stuffed animal close to her chest the same way I did. When my taxi arrived, I looked back at her with my stuffed animal. I thought I would just leave it with her, but she kissed it goodbye and handed it back to me. I will never forget the feeling I had when I wallked away. A warm, fuzzy feeling manifested in my chest and I felt content. I knew that I had done something good and improved someone else's day.

My ultimate goal in life is to do good and improve the lives of others. I feel the responsibility to help make this world a better place, and I have chosen to do so by becoming a social worker. Now, I don't expect social work to be easy and simple as sharing a toy. I know it will be hard work for not much pay, that I will take the weight of the job home with me, and that I will make many personal sacrifices for my job. I know that my patience will be tested often and I will become frustrated frequently. All this being said, I can confidently say that I am ready for it all.

I have a burning passion for others. I love to hear people's voices, their stories, their hardships, and their victories. I believe that the human life is extremely complex and each person is incredibly diverse from the next. I know that every person experiences life, deals with adversity, and recieves help in their own way. I will never stop learning or growing because the world is everchanging. For this reason, I know that social work will never bore me; every day will be vastly different from the previous one.

I know what it is like to feel alone and helpless. I am familiar with the pain of lonliness and estrangement. To know that someone out there cares for me and wants to help me is the reason that I can perservere these hardships. I hope to one day be that someone for a stranger. I hope to be a friendly face when people can't find one. I hope to be a light in someone's world of darkness. The truth is, helping others helps me. Being someone's friendly face or light makes me feel purpose. It reminds me why I was given this life. It gets me through my bad days. How lucky am I that I can have this as my career? I know that social work will bring me fulfillment and joy.

I know that I am just one person in a world of darkness and �I won't be able to save it or all the lives that need saving...but I will do my best and I will always try.