March 26, 2018

Re: Licensed Masters Social Worker Position

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m writing to express my interest in the Licensed Masters Social Worker Position available at Achieve Beyond Pediatric Therapy and Autism Services in your Farmingdale branch. I am a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in the State of New York and studied at Stony Brook University, where I also minored in Spanish and was involved in many leadership positions. My training in my universities leadership program taught me to communicate well with others and work in a collaborative work setting which would make me an ideal candidate for this position.

My three years being involved in my school’s leadership program has provided me with extensive experience in communicating with others and assisting students in their college transition. The leadership program is extremely selective and only a handful of freshman get accepted. This experience has helped my collaboration and team building skills, as well as my coordination and organizational skills. My role was that of a leader who guided incoming freshman in things such as housing selection, class selection and on-campus resources. My degree in Social Work has prepared me to assess the conditions of individuals and groups in need and take the necessary steps to improve their conditions. These skills would be beneficial if I were to be given the chance to apply them to the children, students and families who seek your services. I have experience working with children and young adults through my years of babysitting and through my involvement in my university. Coming from a Spanish-speaking background and my Spanish degree allows me to communicate with Spanish-speaking individuals fluently. I feel very confident in my ability to cater to different individuals needs and develop the best strategies to assist children with their disabilities.

I am excited to be considered for this position and hopefully be able to contribute to the great services that your company provides. I am looking forward to the opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary team that strives to educate family members and caregivers on different intervention strategies to aid children with developmental disabilities. Please find my resume enclosed for your review. Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Daniela Robles

Brent Staples, an editor of The New York Times Book Review, talks about the “afrofuturism” of the movie Black Panther. Afrofuturism, a term coined by cultural critic Mark Deray, is claimed to be the new frontier of African American portrayal in cinema. Staples has made some interesting points about how African Americans are portrayed in the media these days. Representation is heavy in art and cinema that revolves around the history of black suffering, such as movies predominantly about slavery. However, we don’t see as much representation in regular films that don’t deal with such a huge aspect of black identity. Staples says that Black Panther has paved the way for more films that include afrofuturist arts and ideals. For some context, Black Panther is part of the Marvel franchise and depicts the protagonist, T’Challa, as his fictional home of Wakanda is threatened by the villain, Killmonger,  who is seeking his throne. The movie was wildly successful and continues to pull in big numbers at the box office. Afrofuturism, Staples says, has been around for about 25 years but the term was made known by Black Panther. Afrofuturism is used to “describe the work of artists who used the tools of science fiction to imagine possible futures.” He says that when Black Panther, written by Christopher Priest, first made an appearance in the Fantastic Four comic book, it was seen in a negative light. It was around the mid-60s when it first appeared, which was the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. It was associated with “black radicalism” and also with the Black Panther Party, as they shared the same name. In terms of the article itself, the author proves his point through the establishment of mostly ethos, of himself and other significant figures. For example, Staples takes the term “afrofuturism” from Mark Dery, and gives him credit while also expanding on the point itself. This shows that he gives credit where it’s due and further proves his point by quoting well-known cultural critic Mark Dery. Staples also further establishes his ethos by proving that he is well-versed in writing about black culture. When navigating his page on the site, the reader can see several articles on issues of white supremacy, Colin Kaepernick, Barack Obama and slavery. He also has several articles on other films such as Wonder Woman and George Romero’s zombie flicks. This shows that Staples knows a lot about film and the cinematic industry, and is therefore a credible source to go to when wanting to read articles about the latest movies.

For my argument paper, I chose to write about DACA or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. It is an executive action policy established under the Obama Administration back in 2012 and allows immigrants who entered the country as minors to renewable period of deferred action from deportation and eligibility for a work permit. DACA provides no path to citizenship and late last year (September 2017) the Trump administration began taking initiatives to phase it out. This has been a huge issue in America the past couple of month and has sparked many protests in favor of keeping DACA in place to protect Dreamers (participating individuals).  I chose this topic because I come from a family of Mexican immigrants. The majority of DACA recipients are Latinos, though there are many from Asian countries as well such as South Korea. It’s very important because there are so many Dreamers in the country who are facing challenges and discrimination and will face even more if DACA is phased out by Trump’s administration. It gives young men and women an opportunity to work and study here in the United States. Most of these individuals didn’t get a say in whether they wanted to emigrate, and most don’t know any other home than this one.  I think whether you’re pro-DACA or anti-DACA, it’s important to keep an open mind and be sympathetic towards these individuals who are going through a difficult time. In terms of the points I will be arguing, DACA actually has many economic benefits such as labor participation and rise in wages. It also helps mental health overall in the individuals who are eligible, as well as their family members. There is also no evidence that DACA recipients commit more crimes than native-born Americans, as they would not be eligible if they had a criminal record. To back up my claims, I will mostly use facts, statistics and research studies to show the benefits of DACA. I will also try and appeal to my audience by trying to get them to sympathize with Dreamers. America has had mass immigration since colonial times and Dreamers simply want to be contributing citizens and achieve a better life. In terms of counterarguments, an obvious one I will face is that Dreamers are stealing jobs from native-born Americans. Other counterarguments I will face are: Dreamers are criminals, DACA will encourage more illegal immigration, is a violation of the law and is unfair to young Americans starting out. However, I believe I have enough evidence to refute at least most of these claims.