Institution for Admission Program, Degree or Course

Institution for Admission

Program, degree or course of study

Mental Health Masters Program Admissions Essay

Mental health should be an important issue for each and every one of us. Mental health is directly related to physical health as well. My life experience and my professional experience has proven to me be repeatedly and very clearly the necessity for strong mental health. My interest in my helping my community and helping people live better lives inspire me to pursue mental health at the graduate level.

I have spent a great deal of time working in an extremely active emergency room in New York City. Emergency rooms in general are stressful, and to couple that kind of work environment in a city like New York, which can have more than 10 million people in it who speak a huge variety of languages, coming from every culture imaginable, can increase the potential stress level exponentially.

I am lucky that I have experience as a naval officer. The navy prepared me for a career in mental health without my awareness. In the U.S. Navy, I learned a great deal of self-discipline. I learned about what it means to work as a team and the value of each member of a team. My naval experience additionally prepared me for a strong skill set for handling, combating, and even preparing for mental stress. I have seen what a lack of mental health can do to people -- it really can have devastating, long lasting affects, particularly for those people whose professions demand they experience and work through stress everyday, such as the troops I have provided medical assistance to during my time at the emergency room. I have read, but more importantly, I have seen and felt for myself the ways in which improving a person's mental health improves their physical health. Sometimes the most sensitive and horrific injuries I have assisted with are damages done to a person's mental health despite the physical injuries that person endures.

Admission and entrance into a graduate program with focus on mental health reinforces some of my personal beliefs about life and it directly supports my current & previous career experiences. I already have some idea of the level of dedication and diligence necessary to be successful at the graduate level. I have served my country as a naval officer and as a hospital staff member. I am able to deal with the some of the stressors that come along with graduate level study, as again, the U.S. Navy and New York City emergency rooms have provided me with more than my fair share of stress, both direct and indirect.