Personal Statement Graduate School 2015

Sequoia Lockhart
(707) 272-0556
[email protected]
285 NW 16th Street Apt 2, Corvallis OR, 97330
I am currently finishing a Bachelors of Science degree in Nutrition with an emphasis in

Dietetics at Oregon State University (OSU) under the College of Public Health and Human
Science. I am ecstatic to announce that I am applying for a Masters of Public Health in Health
Promotion from the School of Community Health at Portland State University (PSU).
I appreciate that the PSU faculty offers diversity to the program through personal history,
professional experience, and research interests. Based on what I have read about the faculty, I
feel confident that I will be accepted as a member of a minority population in America and as a
proud Native American student. I share common interests with the faculty on working with
minority populations, media advocacy and the neighborhood context as a social determinant of
health.
During my years as an undergraduate student it has been important to me to explore diverse
populations and scenarios. My experiences have allowed me to link my education in nutrition to
working with communities by modes of counseling and education on healthy lifestyles. My
hopes were that my efforts would result in lasting effects of prevention and encouraged healthy
behavior change.
I believe change starts with the youth and have chosen to work on several projects that target 5 to
18 year olds. My intention is to take a proactive approach promoting healthy lifestyles in all parts
of the family. I realized through experience and countless research on effective behavior change
for children and adults that it more influential to target the family as a whole rather than targeting
an individual family member.
I am inspired by the concept and fabrication of behavior change that can happen at many points
through a life cycle.
Two summers ago I was hired as a Healthy Lifestyles Coordinator by the director of Sherwood
Valley Rancherias Food Disbursement Program to co-manage part of a USDA grant. As an
undergraduate student, it was truly a learning experience that I often describe as my greatest
challenge and my most rewarding success. During my employment I developed a curriculum
that could be shared with other tribes to encourage and educate native youth on healthy lifestyles
through increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables and increased physical activity. I lead 20
native youth ages 8-18 and we called ourselves KAWI club. I used interactive, hands on
presentations to engage the native youth and educate them on the prevention of chronic illnesses
that affect Native populations.
From this experience I have learned to ask this fundamental question:
How can I provoke a lasting influence that encourages lifestyle change for future generations?
My work on the reservation that summer made it clear that I can improve on how to track
outcomes and evaluate the effectiveness of a program. This is the reason that I am applying to
the School of Social and Behavioral Health Science. I imagine that with a more formal education
and with instruction on how to develop, implement, and evaluate sustainable evidence-based
interventions in community settings, I will be able to create lasting effects because my work is
not without passion. In my future career I expect to achieve confidence when researching,
evaluating and developing programs.
My work ethic and enthusiasm to pursue my goal of becoming a Community Health Worker
and/or Registered Dietician is what drives me to expand my education into the MPH program. I
value diversity and I bring with me a culture unlike mainstream America and an education
specialized in nutrition.
I want to surround my life with the development of programs focusing on population needs. I am
excited to be introduced to new concepts and ideologies through class discussion, course work
and sheer exposure.
I want the next step in my education to lead me to a place where I am investing time and energy
in finding out how PSU examines, postulates and conducts research questions with minority and
possibly Native American populations. I believe that continuing my education at PSU will train
me with the appropriate skills to reach my career goals. As a graduate of this MPH program, I
plan to use my education to research and create lasting change in population health disparities,
health determinants, and the struggle with effective promotion and adaptation in diverse
populations. I feel motivated to be involved in the development of programs as a Program
Coordinator and see adaptation from the native communities and culturally and racially diverse
communities for generations to come.
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Sequoia Lockhart

I am currently finishing a Bachelors of Science degree in Nutrition with an emphasis in

Sequoia Lockhart Page (2/2)

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