MSW Application 2

How My Military Experiences Built My Character

Susan Castro

University of Louisville

NAVY Experience

Enlisting in the United States NAVY from a small town in Southern Indiana and getting stationed in San Diego, California was one of the most significant adjustments in my life. My experiences in the military instilled in me resilience and adaptability, which I plan to use in the military field of social work at a master’s level. These attributes are my greatest strengths, they have amplified through many of my stressful, demanding, and uncomfortable experiences in the military.

My enlistment in the Navy exposed me to diversity in more ways than I knew existed! I met people of all races, ethnicities, and personalities. I also experienced different types of leadership and positions of authority, which threw me into different roles and types of relationships where I had to be a boss and a friend while keeping the relationships separate. I have visited over 10 countries around the world and have lived in 5 different states in the United States.  Adaptability to new places, people, and environments became methodical as I learned how to build new support systems, make lifelong friendships while utilizing the benefits and resources in the local areas to provide for my family. I familiarized myself with the resource centers on every base, located the library in every city, and learned how to use public transportation everywhere I was stationed. Some places were harder to navigate and find resources, however, my resilience kept me persistent until I found what I needed or at least found a point of contact to assist me.  Resilience and adaptability are key attributes to being successful in the military and I take pride in passing my knowledge to new service members and their families, in hopes of making their experiences as positive and easy as possible. I plan to continue this on a professional level by earning my master’s in military social work and utilizing these characteristics and my knowledge to assist service members, veterans, and their families.