What does social work mean to you? Why do you want to be a social worker? When you think about yourself as a professional social worker, what do you see as your strengths and areas for development? My interest in social work started upon the realization I was the person my family and friends would seek out for support. I enjoyed listening to others and helping them through difficult times.
I truly enjoyed being someone he depended on and confided in, in his last years. I strongly believe that my passion to become a social worker stems from the bravery and comforting nature of being there for my grandfather. My grandmother is a Social Worker now and I always admired and appreciated the genuine work and service she has done, for example, visiting her sickle cell patients on holidays, being able to mentor undergraduates, and the various volunteer opportunities she has done. I feel that I can be an advocate for those who are neglected or abused. I feel that the Master’s in Social Work program would give me the theoretical foundation as well as the intensive training that is necessary to become a successful social worker.
The first chapter claimed people need to based on their faith and passion to achieve the dream of becoming a social worker. To be honest, I do not have the dream of what kind of social worker I would like to be. Everyone around me seems to have their own goal or a dream on this field. At first, I found it frustrated when everyone is so passionate and have their own destination. I started to think if I am not passionate to become a social worker.
Career Narrative To many, Social Work means to set out rules for families of the less fortunate granting the child “safety” and posing suggested life to live forever. To me, Social Work allows me to help families in need and I am very passionate about helping others when in need. The career goal that I have chosen is Social Work, specifically child and family social work. I have chosen this mainly because my intent of loving to help others and how self rewarding everything is right after helping them. It is interesting to see others lives and how you can step in and help them grow and flourish in amazing ways.
I am interested in pursuing my education in obtaining my Master’s in Social Work because I have a strong passion for helping people and I can give back to my community. I have a passion to help others and committed to helping people function the best they can in their surroundings, meaning that I can provide direct services to people in their homes or place of work, helping people through social service organizations, and working towards change to improve social conditions. Like any helping profession, i.e. Doctors, Teachers, etc. Social Work seeks to help people overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges.
While Psych 1000 was slapping me in the face, I learned in my psychology seminar that what I wanted to do required a doctorate. During this time of stress and frustration, I had an epiphany. Psychology wasn’t what I wanted at all. Social work is something I wanted deep down, to counsel and help others. To tell the truth, I leaned more toward social work from the get-go, but telling my family that I wanted to be a Social Worker, they said “No Lilli, you don’t want to take people’s kids away.” And I would say “Yes, I know that.
Many social workers went from working in private agencies, to working with public agencies to help the people suffering from poverty. “1000 social workers took jobs in public sectors, they fought to train caseworkers and otherwise improve the public sector service”(Abramowitz, 1998, p.513.) Social workers as a change agent, aim to make a change and in this case, social workers were helping the people suffering from poverty. These challenges facilitate social workers to have an impact towards the people. This can also relate to person in environment, “Social workers realize that they must pay attention to the environment in which people live, and they work to change the environment so that if functions more effectively for individuals, families, and communities”(Segal, Gerdes, Steiner, 2014, p.7).
I want to strive to be a better person, so I could make a change in a young person’s life and know when I go home on a night, that I made a difference and that's why I want to pursue my career as a social worker. When I realized that I wanted to be a social worker, I was in my junior year of high school. I knew I wanted to help people, children especially, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to go into. I thought I wanted to be in Neonatology or another profession like it. When I first witnessed a social worker, I was getting a treatment in the hospital and saw a social worker working with a family who child had a broken pelvis.
I have always been the type of person to try to take on too much and let one aspect of my life suffer, which usually ends up being “me time.” Although I have improved so far during my college career, I have occasionally struggled with leaving work issues at work and not dwelling on them at home. I know that in order to avoid burnout and be a successful social worker, self-care is crucial. It is something that I strive to do more of as I approach the beginning of my professional career. To do so, I will take time out of my busy schedule to continue dancing, reading, and playing tennis. This career is my passion and I will do whatever it takes to help
While in my undergraduate career, I chose the field of Social Work because I felt a desire to help people. After graduating with this degree in 1993, I worked in a mental health clinic training chronically mental ill patients to live independently. Showing care and empathy toward my clients was natural for me. My drive to help people became even more obvious when my terminally ill in-laws moved in with