In her own words
Blessing Johnson
I’m pursuing a higher education because I’m grateful for the sacrifices my mom made in bringing my sibling and me to America after fleeing the brutal civil war in her country. I want to be an example to my siblings that they can pursue their educational goals. I want to have a successful future and prove to myself and others that being a first-generation college student isn’t a setback. It’s actually something to be proud of and has only increased my drive to be successful. I believe that my education will open many doors for me. I want to have a positive impact on less-fortunate children by becoming a foster care social worker. I was always touched when I would hear about cases of children who endured abuse or even died in the hands of an abusive parent/guardian. From the young age of 13, I always read up on such cases and imagined how I could help prevent these unfortunate events. With that being said, the education I’m pursuing and the social work internship I’ve taken helped me develop professionally for this field. I’ve learned about methods in helping victims of abuse and signs to look out for. This is a professional skill I’ll apply when working with children in the foster system. A personal goal my education will allow me to achieve is to ask more questions for clarification. I say this because, although I already do this, I’m challenging myself to keep it up as I continue my education. A community-focused goal that my education will help me with is to network more and seek out more opportunities relating to my future career goal. I also want to do more community service work on campus. I recently joined a volunteering club on campus to make this possible.