I was fortunate enough to identify my broad career goals early on in my undergraduate degree, during volunteer efforts at a local elementary school, supporting students in programs aimed at improving their academic abilities. This experience ignited a personal drive, to aid the youth community and eventually developed into a desired career path. It was at this point that my educational pursuits became focused on a trajectory that would eventually lead me to a completion of an undergraduate degree in Psychology, and later the pursuit of a Master’s Degree in Social Work. Upon entrance to my graduate program, I honed my area of focus in on children youth and families. My internships at Mark Twain Elementary School and most recently at the Heart of Los Angles, have provided me with practical experience in the field; completing trainings in Motivational Interviewing, Problem Solving Therapy, Managing and Adapting Practices, Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Homeless Youth, and Mandated reporting. During both internship experiences, I met and developed working therapeutic relationships with my clients’, providing me with valuable knowledge of applicable programs, practices as well as exposure to various therapeutic modalities. My last internship, at Heart of Los Angeles, proved significant, in providing me with further clarity and direction in my career specialization moving forward. At Heart of Los Angeles, I was able to work with the at-risk, adolescent youth, specifically. Not only do I find my work with this subset of youth, to be impactful on the mirco level, but I was also been able to facilitate macro level therapeutic groups for students within the program, whom I do not see on an individual basis. My time there has provided me with invaluable experiences including completion of treatment goals; making referrals for additional testing; advocating for continued outside services for clients’; as well as creating and facilitating group therapy sessions.