I First Learned About The Field Of Social Work At The End

I have chosen to apply to study Social Work because I have always had a desire to make a difference. I have a passion for helping others; doing so in a caring and supportive manner. Over the past few years I have structured my education and career path to achieve this goal, by setting realistic targets and having successfully gained insight into different areas within the field of Social Work whilst doing so.

Social work involves passionate individuals who are dedicated to helping others by providing services to vulnerable children, families or individuals in need, while constantly looking for ways in which we can improve society. This discipline is dedicated to helping people find solutions to their problems in order to make the world a better place. I chose this field of study, because I find the job of a social worker rewarding. I have always enjoyed helping others and knowing that I have made a difference in someone’s life. It is no secret that this is a challenging career; however, the feeling of knowing that you made the world a better place is indescribable. I have simply decided to make my passion of helping others into a career. I know that in order to make my passion a career I will need to get the best education and training possible.

Being the secretary and a board member of the Human Services Club at Moreno Valley College has also influenced me to pursue social work. I had the privilege of working with social work professors and professionals throughout the last 3 years. The knowledge that I have gained from them has provided a reinforcement that social work is I want to do. My club advisor, James Banks, has also been a great influence and counselor. Every day, our experiences that we go through change us. We never stop evolving. Social workers never stop learning new strategies to help their clients. Taking each experience from each client and using it to help others

Many personal and professional life experiences have been my motivation to pursue a degree in Social Work. Although I was unaware that this would later be my profession of interest, my personal life situations caused me to have to come into contact with a few social workers. The social workers that I have had the opportunity to meet have helped me with overcoming poverty, mental illness, child abuse, emotional instability, and domestic violence. My interest from pursuing a career as a parole officer, then a physical therapist to now a Social worker all shifted to this decision based on my life. Over the years I found myself enjoying helping others in need such as when I was employed as a Correctional officer and talking an offender from committing suicide causing me to question my future and whether I was in the wrong field.

All social worker come from a diverse of backgrounds. I come from a working lower class family. I was raised in a border town as a single child. I was indult the catholic religion with Mexican-American cultures. During my life spam I have come across with many struggles, personally and with close family members that have affected me, in which they have driven me to choose social work as a career. When starting my bachelor’s degree, I chose social work for one reason. All I wanted to be was a lawyer. I was obtaining my bachelor’s degree in social work for the pass to law school and the passion of making an impact to those who are in need. After a couple of classes in the social work program, volunteering, and doing research, I found out that this was meant to be for me. I continued with my desire of helping those in need and willing be helped.

These life experiences have prepared me to be a social worker because they have demonstrated that I am capable of doing things that I thought were impossible. Since I have excelled at my undergraduate courses, I am prepared for the more rigorous Master’s level curriculum. I demonstrate professionalism in my classes

The question, “Why I became a social worker,” has been asked a number of times, by many people. My response to this question is often, “I’m not sure.” I say that I’m not sure because, becoming a professional social worker was never a goal of mine. But, after being rejected by the College of Allied Health, and dropping out of nursing school, I decided to apply to Savannah State University School of Social Work, after hearing a presentation by Dr. S. Jhindani. Dr. Jhindani is a social work professor/recruiter for Savannah State, who gave this fascinating and exciting presentation entitled, “5 Reasons Why You Should Consider Becoming a Social Worker.”

Working with children is my passion. Ever since seventh grade, I have been working with children through babysitting, teaching Sunday school and vacation bible school. Working with children makes me feel complete; this feeling has deeply influenced my decision of majoring in social work. From kindergarten through seventh grade I witnessed one of my closest friends suffer from the pains of having an abusive father. After years of struggling to heal from his father’s abuse, my friend spoke up, and he was appointed a social worker. The day my friend told me about his social worker, he said that she was someone that he thought very highly of because she helped him heal from the nightmare that was his life for so many years. This personal testimony from my friend was one of the major contributing factors to my decision to major in social work. My societal responsibility after graduating from the University of Arkansas would be helping other children like my friend across the nation, despite how heartbreaking it would be.

I have always been someone willing to provide a listening ear for friends, or provide a helping hand within the community. Many people suffer from many issues, with a lot of people simply needing someone who’s willing to reach out to them to provide them with help and guidance. Within the social work program, I believe I can truly find a career which makes me happy by providing me a chance to help others daily. For me, a life in which I spend my days helping others is one of the most fulfilling lives I can

1. The development of my interest in social work originated my senior year of high school. Due to a series of events I ran away from home shortly after the passing of my adoptive single mother. Although I was adopted, my relationship with my family was close to nothing. On account of my weak family ties, I quickly became a homeless high school student with a nonexistent support system. As I struggled to find stability in my life, the school social worker had reached out to me. During the mist of my turmoil the school social worker, Mr. Hawkins, was a valuable support and lifeline. With his encouragement I was able to achieve stable housing and employment. Within a year I was able to graduate from high school and I started my first year in undergrad.

1. My interest in social work began with taking a semester off of school during my undergraduate career. I was given the opportunity to live and work in Puerto Rico. This season away from classes allowed me time to search for a career and a major that would best fit my interests, values, and skills. I felt that social work was the only major that adequately reflected this. After returning to school to begin my social work classes, my interest in the field began to develop more fully. The following summer I was able to live and work in Costa Rica with Nicaraguan immigrant teenage girls living in extreme poverty. I began to understand how systems and cycles of poverty can affect the individual. I learned that these girls were not only suffering from monetary poverty, but also of poverty of relationships, lack of education, and cycles of abuse. These different types of poverty allowed little opportunity to overcome such circumstances on their own.

While walking to work I was pondering to my self why I wanted to be a social worker. As a young man I have always wanted more out of life. I grew up in a small farm town North side of the border of Mexico. I am the oldest of three children (two sisters). My parents were both working with the school district, my father a teacher/coach, my mother a social worker. My parents were well educated and believed in obtaining an education. They taught me school is a great way to enhance my life. I did well in my early years of my education, but life is the greatest teacher above all else.

Social work is all about understanding and making a difference in people’s lives. I am very passionate about actively helping people overcome their problems and have the best quality of life they possible can. I understand that social work is a challenging occupation; however, I believe I have the skills and determination to pursue a career in social work. My main curricular interests are in social subjects such as geography and history. I enjoy finding out about the world and the people.

Initially, my view of social work was that the most impactful pillar of our work maintained dedication toward social justice. That was cultivated more specifically into what Heidemann, G., Fertig, R., Jansson, B., & Kim, H. (2011) stated “Social workers are mandated, through the profession's Code of Ethics, to challenge social injustice and pursue social change with and on behalf of vulnerable and oppressed individuals and groups of people” ( 37). Initially this seemed like an overwhelming undertaking, one that put me in a malaise because, where could I have impact that was impactful. Of the multiple levels of practice from which a social worker can focus, I was determined to make my mainstay on the micro level. Working with individuals and families impacted by oppression, the aim would be getting them to a better place in life or rather trying to improve their quality of life, as they defined and that seemed attainable. Selfishly, I believed the work would reward me a more rapidly with a sense of accomplishment that came from a short-term plan and goals. My interpretation of social work was supremely flawed, the scope of what was needed, to my embarrassment, was one dimensional.

I hope to enter the profession of social work because I believe everyone deserves to have a chance at a good life. This is a profession where you are devoted to helping people from all walks of life, from providing direct services to changing their social environment. Social Workers are change agents and entering this profession I vow to always put my all into each client I encounter needs. I am interested in becoming a social worker because I want to improve the quality of life and enhance wellbeing of individuals, families, couples, groups, and communities. In this profession I want to encourage. Social work is a diverse career; I want to help people help themselves. As a social worker I want to be a positive model in the lives of others. This unique profession can make a difference in one’s