My Mother 's Co Worker, Belle Walker

Sonnie is a hardworking, driven individual with aspirations to be a social worker. Her strengths focus on the skills that would best equip her in her future practice. She is empathetic, a good listener, and knows how to work well with others. Sonnie is also independent, but knows she can count on the support of her family and friends when she needs them the most. They encourage her when she is doubtful and always know the right things to say. The closeness she feels to her loved ones really motivate her to be great at what she wants to do in the future. Sonnie has an overall strong networking system that lends their support for opportunities to advance in her career.

The interview session I had with Kayla Huddleston was necessary in understanding different dynamics of the Social Work profession. Ms. Huddleston is an experienced professional who works in the social work program at Seattle University. She performs diverse roles in the social work program at the university. She is a program coordinator for a social work program and responsible for recruitment and admission program in the university. She also organizes and ensures different social programs including graduation within the university. Her program coordination role requires diverse skills and competencies and at least a Master’s degree in social work from a recognized university. Kayla Huddleston holds a Master’s degree in social work from the University of Washington specializing in policy and administration. Her micro-level policy and system duties enable her to develop strategies and administrative policies that directly influence the lives of different people in the society.

As an educator and school administrator, she wanted the best from her students and for her students. She was positive, encouraging and always praised their accomplishments. Her expectations were always set high for her students and for herself. After her retirement with over 30 years

Lauren became a special education teacher because she always knew she wanted to be a teacher. She decided to become a special education teacher because she wanted to teach students with disabilities. Her overall goal was to make a difference and it is evident that she is making an impact on her students and their

Throughout the years I have known her, I have seen her growth in all areas of her life and her commitment to pursuing a career as a doctor. Daisy took on the opportunity to tutor her classmates and build

Meadow View Elementary School was my practicum site for my Bachelor of Social Work (BSW). The assigned unit, was the Family Resource Center (FRC) which is a government funded agency. Erica Scott is the FRC Coordinator at Meadow View Elementary School, while completing the practicum, Erica Scott demonstrated the epitome of a great social worker. The social work profession requirements include: Being flexible as knowing how to prioritize and complete several tasks at once is crucial to getting things done in an effective and efficient manner. Empathy, seeing that the students/families are hurting and trying to help them to cope and move forward. Trustworthiness, as a result the students/families are more apt to be relaxed and open with her as they feel they can trust the coordinator with vital information and active listening, Scott’s knack to listen prudently, ask appropriate questions and retain verbally transmitted information is fundamental to opening doors and discovering valuable details about the students/families who seek help as a result understanding the students/families unique circumstances since the primary goal of the FRC is to “remove nonacademic barriers to learning as a means to enhance student academic success. The mission is to enhance students’ ability to succeed in school by developing and sustaining partnerships that promote early learning and successful transition to school, academic achievement and well-being, and graduation and transition into adult

As an individual who is unaware of their own direction when it comes to choosing a major, this interview paper is directed towards the target audience who may be contemplating going into the social work profession. As I began to run out of time on this assignment, one social worker was able to kindly take time out of her own schedule to participate in this interview. Amanda Mulhern is a social worker who is in practice and is one of the most passionate people I know when it comes to her career. I’ve seen Amanda continuously post things all over social media, not only raising awareness of specific causes, but also encouraging people to better themselves and the environments around them. I immediately got in contact with Amanda through Facebook messenger explaining the assignment and interview process to her. Without hesitation, she responded in agreement. During the interview I tried to abide by nonverbal cues to let her know I was interacting with her as a person and not just

She also wants to one day become a child care director. Some of her previous positions held in the social work field were, therapeutic social work, which she did in Dell county and Houston county Alabama, and care coordinator. Her current positon is SSS, (Supervisor of Social Services), at Thomas county DFCS. I asked Ms. Celeste what is her definition of social work? She replied, “Providing children and their families with services and resources needed to help alleviate the issues that come with the circumstances they’re sometimes in.” She then told me about a teacher that she emulates the most out of her social work career which is a professor that she had in college by the name of Brian Farnham. She stated that “He understood what social work was. He wasn’t biased, racist, or anything of that sort. He knew social work and the policy.” He taught her in three classes, general social work, social work with groups and families, and

An interview was conducted with Ashley Fortune MSW, a school social worker for several schools within Gilbert Public School District. Ashley Fortune received her Bachelors in Social Work from Arizona State University, subsequently receiving her Masters in Social Work. Throughout the duration of Mrs. Fortune’s professional career, she explored various roles within the field of social work. Post completion of her Bachelors, she worked in residential center for people with disabilities. She provided direct care services and assisted clients with

Linda Houser, who has her PhD in Social Work, believes there is potential for a positive change throughout society and in the role of social workers in assisting, facilitating, and initiating such change. Linda began her career with families of young children who had chronic and disabling conditions. She connected them with developmental assessments and services. However, after years of attempting this, she came to conclusion that the families who were in need of assistance were blocked from getting it due to things such as budget constraints, administrative deterrence, etc. Nonetheless, Linda is passionate about her job and seeks to learn about the interests and practice needs of student-practitioners, building policy knowledge, and most importantly

While working as a teacher she noticed the terrible conditions the people were living in. Because of what her mother taught her about always helping those who need it she knew she had to make a difference.

She would often go out of her way for people she didn’t know very well but wanted to build a relationship with. While working with the YMCA before and after program at my elementary school she felt it was important to build relationships with the teachers and the parents of the other students. This was not an easy task. There were times where she had to attempt build relationships with a very limited time constraint. But she was often very successful, she contributed this to her ability to be approachable and to do more listening that talking. That parents wanted to talk about their child and that teachers wanted to talk about the different teaching methods, using this knowledge she did research on her own so that she could carry a conversation and build relationships.

Ever since she was young, Ms. Ambrogio has wanted to teach because she likes learning. When she was in school she had two teacher that were her favorite: Ms. Mingock and Mr. Radomosky. She enjoyed Ms. Mingock because she made English fun again and she was an overall awesome teacher. Mr. Radomosky told his student to go beyond themselves and he supported them, so she enjoyed his classes. To become a teacher, she had to college for six years all together and take classes in education, english, and special education.

When working with Florence, I will use a strengths approach, which will focus on Florence’s strengths. I need to have the belief that everyone has strengths. I will need to find strengths in Florence and help her discover those strengths, so she can find more effective ways of parenting and be able to regain custody of her daughter. I will have the belief that everyone has worth, no matter what they have done. I also need to believe that people have the capacity to change. I will focus on Florence’s abilities and assets, not her problems. It is important that social workers do not judge their clients, no matter what they do, or have done. It will be important that I not judge Florence for abusing her daughter. I will be an enabler, and supportive, and not tell Florence what she should do. She said that the police were very kind to her the night that Dave died, and it sounded like she appreciated their kindness. I will need to show her kindness and respect as well. That will help foster a trusting relationship between us. I will need to be her advocate as I work with other agencies, especially when working with the child welfare agency to do all I can to help her regain custody of Crystal. I will need to start where Florence is, recognizing that she is the expert of her life. I need to listen carefully during our first interview, and allow Florence to tell me as much about herself as possible, so I can get the best overall picture of her.

Tracey has always had a passion for working with kids. Since she was young she had always planned to be a teacher because helping others learn made her happy. Tracey said “I wanted to be a teacher ever since I was in high school. I watched my