The Personal Stratement...

 This is the statement I submitted to the graduate school as part of the application process...

A stay-at-home mom for the past twelve years, I first started attending Miami University in 1997 while working full-time with the University's Police Department as a police supervisor.  During the summer of 1997 I was speaking with a student when I realized that I could not see part of his face.  After a visit to a retinal specialist, I was told that I had presumed ocular histoplasmosis syndrome and underwent emergency laser surgery to seal abnormal blood vessels growing in my right eye.  I continued to struggle with my vision and left Miami's employ in January of 1998.  Having undergone numerous procedures in both eyes in subsequent years, I am legally blind in the left eye and have diminished vision in the right.  I have come to view my partial loss of vision as a mixed blessing, because, while it ended a promising career, it actually improved my home and family life, and sent me personally down paths I would have unlikely explored otherwise.  I have learned that negative events do not necessarily mean negative outcomes.

In the intervening years I attended Miami intermittently, as life permitted, until the fall of 2005, when circumstances allowed me to start attending on a regular basis.  I enjoyed all of my classes and found that I excelled in an academic environment.  During my last two and a half years at Miami, I had the opportunity to conduct research, both my own and in conjunction with faculty members.  I found these to be very positive and rewarding experiences that developed in me a love for research; indeed, it is the research that I miss most since graduating.

After graduation I started volunteering with my youngest son's Cub Scout pack and was soon recruited to work at the district, and then the council level, of the Boy Scouts of America.  At this juncture in my life I desire to do something more in the world of non-profit and public service work, ideally something that would allow me to combine my love for research with my demonstrated organizational and leadership skills, and possibly also teaching.  I feel that continuing my education as a graduate student at Miami University, and with the highly qualified faculty of the political science program, is the best course of action for achieving my ambitions.  My intention is to pursue a master's degree with a concentration in public administration, leaving the door open to enter a doctoral program at a later date.  If admitted to your program I will be a valuable addition and make meaningful contributions to the field.

Overview of my research experience at Miami University:

During the spring semester of 2006 I completed my first independent research project with Dr. xxxxx xxxxxxxx, Assistant Professor of Psychology.  I presented the results of this research at the MUH Student Scholar Symposium and the Steven J. Hinkle Memorial Poster Session that year.  In this study, a cross cultural comparison of intimate partner violence, I conducted a literature review examining 41 countries and/or country subcultures, looking at different variables that may affect the development of an individual's relational schemas within their cultural framework, such as gender roles and childrearing practices, and how these variables may influence rates of intimate partner conflict.

From this study I developed an interest in the cultural constructs of machismo and the culture of honor, and upon further reading, bravado.  Under the guidance of Dr. xxxxxxxx, and later Dr. xxxxx xxxx, Assistant Professor of Psychology, I continued studying these constructs.  In the project I completed for departmental honors, I administered measures of machismo, bravado, and conflict tactics to local Latino, African American, and Appalachian community members.  I was interested in whether aspects of these constructs related to each other, as well as to increased rates of intimate partner conflict within the populations that hold them.  I presented preliminary results showing correlations between subscales of the measures and intimate partner conflict at the Undergraduate Summer Scholar Fair held on the Oxford campus October 2007, and at the Student Scholar Symposium held on the Hamilton campus April 2008.  I learned much from this study, including the realization that research does not always progress at a quick pace, and that one must be patient, especially when dealing with community resources.  During this project I gained experience writing research grants, IRB proposals, and also created a detailed mentoring plan and schedule as part of the Undergraduate Summer Scholar program.
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During the fall semester 2006 I had the privilege to work with Dr. xxxx xxxxxxxx, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, as part of the Life Histories Project being undertaken by Miami University's Hamilton campus.  As part of this project, I did a series of field interviews with a female Hamilton resident of Appalachian heritage married to a Mexican immigrant.  I was able to tell her life story, and also examined the intersection of Appalachian and Latino culture in Hamilton, Ohio, as well as in the broader populace.  It was during this project that I came face to face with my own, often denied, Appalachian heritage.  Appalachians became more than a means to look at the culture of honor, but became a personal interest of mine as well.  In the spring of 2007 I presented the final paper at both the Hamilton Citizen's leadership Academy and at a multi-disciplinary conference held at Kentucky State University.  During my last semester I again worked with Dr. xxxxxxxx to analyze my informant's story and this paper was presented at the Appalachian Studies Association Conference held at Marshall University.  From this project I gained valuable experience doing qualitative as well as quantitative research.

The project undertaken by my research methods class during the spring of 2007 proved particularly valuable.  We designed a study to examine the influence of media on gender identification, a study we thought was sure to give us our predicted outcome, that gender stereotypical advertisements will result in individuals displaying stronger gender consistent identification.  We were thus surprised when we obtained results the opposite of those predicted.  After additional literature review and much discussion, we were able to generate several theories, some of which seem perfectly obvious now, to explain our results.  In retrospect, it was better that our study did not go as predicted, because the obvious would have been too easy and we would not have learned nearly as much from the experience.

In my last year I also worked as an undergraduate research assistant with Dr. xxxxx xxxxxxx, Assistant Professor of English.  For this study of empathy and community I conducted a literature review, assisted her in the design and administration of her surveys, created two SPSS programs to analyze her data, input the data from approximately four hundred surveys, and conducted statistical analysis of the data.  I presented the statistics to Dr. xxxxxxx inn multiple formats for ease of her understanding, and assisted her in preparing for a major conference the fall of 2007.  Toward the end of the year I started teaching Dr. xxxxxxx how to enter her own data and conduct the analysis for her study.  I enjoyed this experience immensely and found myself excited by the prospect of assisting someone in an unfamiliar area, and ended up proposing ideas for future research on the topic.  I also found that I was very comfortable explaining new ideas to someone, and her positive feedback about my ability to communicate these ideas lent credence to the possibility of one day being an effective instructor.

Random thoughts...

Critical theory (not to be confused with the Frankfurt School) posits the proper goal of social science is to critique and bring about positive change in society, not merely to understand or explain it...indeed, what good is understanding without "meaning"?...can understanding be truly value free?...

 I'm a big N, applied research, cross discipline sort of gal...what's my niche to be?

Brand myself?

Brand myself...how does one go about that, and what does it mean exactly?  As a food blogger writing Casa En La Cocina, I am branded as a busy mom preparing "real food for real life."  But, how do I brand myself intellectually?  What is it exactly that I am seeking?

There was a time when I could tell you exactly what...an intended psychology Ph.D student, future academic, and hopefully, a completely brilliant researcher.  But here I am, a Master's student in political science with an intended concentration in public administration...How did I end up here?

As it so often does, life intervened (sounding pretty familiar to my undergraduate path), and here I stand at the beginning of a new path...

I have a love of, not so much "public service," as "service to the public," and have spent many volunteer hours since receiving my undergraduate degree in 2008.

Very recently I have joined like-minded friends in launching a non-profit organization in Hamilton, Ohio called The Caring Closet.  We are committed to serving underprivileged children in the Hamilton City School District by providing much needed clothing, books, and personal care items.  "Clothing Hamilton's future with care" is our motto.  While very fulfilling, we are in uncharted territory...none of us have ever taken on a project like this before...it is different than volunteering with an established organization, one where your role is defined for you...here WE are not only  defining those roles, but the organization as a whole, from the ground up (apologies for the cliche).

I am hoping to gain an understanding of what it means to administer an organization, to prepare budgets, and manage people.  But, I don't want to do this from a business perspective, but rather, a people and service perspective...it is my desire that by pursuing this course of study, one I hope to make interdisciplinary, I will gain the necessary tools to not only assist The Caring Closet, but to dedicate myself to assisting others by following a career path in the world of non-profits.