My Social Work Career Study

For Mrs. Hewes the Introduction to Social Work class we were asked to interview a licensed Social Worker and write an experience paper about the interview. Finding a social worker to interview wasn’t very hard for me because many of my mother’s friends got their masters in social work, but not many of them actually got their license except for one of them. The licensed social worker that I interviewed goes by the name of Tanya Hill. Tanya got her Masters of Social Work at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida in 2000, as well as her license and she now resides in Panama City, Florida. Tanya is someone that I have known since I was a little girl and someone that I definitely aspire to be like once I graduate. My interview with Tanya was over the phone since I did not have time to drive back to Florida to do a face to face one, but while we were on the phone every answer she gave me to the questions I asked were quite interesting.

There are several goals that I hope to achieve by pursuing a graduate degree in Social Work. Pursuing a MSW will provide me with the knowledge, tools, and skills-set that will be fundamental to the achievement my career goals outlined below.

Within the past twenty-five years, my life experiences have led me to become passionate about social work. Although my journey in social work hasn 't been something I’ve always known I wanted to do when I was young, a combination of personal, professional, and academic experiences has pointed me into the direction where I am today. As the oldest out of four siblings, my family has always worked hard to get where they’re at now. Knowledge of my parent 's personal; as well as, their professional struggle of not having a college degree has led them to work hard for everything they 've received in their life. Acknowledging what my parents have gone through has pushed me to receive my Associates in Liberal Arts so that I will able to graduate with my Bachelor of Social Work in the Spring 2017.

On September 21, 2015, I met with Ms. Katie, a student in the MSW program at NCSU, to conduct an interview. We met at Starbucks in Cary, in the crossroads shopping center. Ms. Katie’s responses helped me learn and think about social workers in the child welfare social field. As a prospective social worker, my questions were formed based thoughts that I was concerned about my responsibilities in the social work field..

For this assignment, I decided to interview my aunt because she has been a social worker for about thirty years, and has a lot of experience. She attended Dominican college in Orangeburg, New York where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She then went to graduate school at Montclair State in New Jersey where she received her master’s in psychology. After this, she decided to go back to school for her MSW, which she received from SUNY Albany. Since she graduated, the only profession she has worked in is social work, and she is now a licensed clinical social worker. She loves what she does and is glad that she made the decision to become a social worker.

The job of a child welfare worker appears to be a demanding profession that promotes the child’s safety, but also strengthens the family organization around them in order to successfully raise the children. This child welfare workers work in the system known as the Child Protective Services whose initiative is to protect the overall welfare of the child. The short novel From the Eye of the Storm: the Experiences of a Child Welfare Worker by Cynthia Crosson-Tower demonstrates the skills necessary to deal with the practice of social work along with both its challenges and its happy moments. The novel consists of some of the cases involving Tower’s actual career in social work. In reading the book, I was able to experience some of the actual

Bernadette Carroll is a DC school social worker. There she does therapy with students and programs on bullying. She also does both individual and group sessions. Bernadette Carroll is a license social worker, she currently have a BSW, MSW, LSCWS and she is currently working on her doctorate of social work at Capella University. She has been a social worker for 10 years where she have been helping her clients the best way she can. She also worked as a Child Protective social worker where she investigate and supervise situations with abuse and neglect of children. The aspect of Bernadette’s field of practice that seems more attractive to me is the fact that while on her journey, she tried to make connections with people and exploring options in order to do what she wanted to do.

On September 18, 2015 I interviewed Mrs. Anisha Nix at Ted’s Montana Grill in Downtown Decatur, Georgia at 5:48pm. Mrs. Nix is a Family Consultant Supervisor at the DeKalb County Child Advocacy Center. I interviewed Mrs. Nix, not only for the position that she holds but also because she did not start off with a degree in social work or sociology. Before Anisha took an interest in social services, she gained her masters in Biology from Spelman College. Once done with her undergrad Ms. Nix decided that she would pursue and ultimately gain her Masters in Social Work at Georgia State University, then continue on to become a licensed Social Worker. As the Supervisor of the Advocacy Center, it is her job to supervise the Family Consultants at the

Mary’s Grandmother had begun a savings program for Mary’s college and the fund paid for Mary to attend undergraduate college at Florida Atlantic University. Mary had chosen Social work for her college education, which she continued as an advanced standing student and she received her Master’s degree in Social work in less than five years. Part of both undergraduate and graduate school Mary did internships at behavioral health facilities, where she became involved with persons struggling with chemical addictions. Mary liked and enjoyed this work so she went to work at a private facility for substance abuse. It was shortly after she began working at the facility when a Clinical Director from another office in West Palm beach, came to her and discussed Mary taking over the position as the Clinical Supervisor at the Port St Lucie office.

On February 3rd, I interviewed Keri Humphrey who is a Foster care/ Adoptions social worker. Social work is the field, I am going into. I am unsure what type of social work I’m going for. There are school social worker, mental health, medical/ Public health, substance abuse, child welfare. I am more into the child welfare either foster care/ Adoptions or the investigator. I felt like this would be a great opportunity for me to know more. She has worked with foster families who take in children in a crisis situation. Also, children whom are having to be separated from their families and adapted to new ones.

Starting from being a certified nursing assistant, to becoming a unit secretary for a hospital that specialize in wound care, I have always known that I wanted to help individuals in need. However, I noticed that I was not happy with helping individuals in medical need. It wasn’t until I decided to continue my education that I introduced to the world of social work. Going up with a single mother that suffered from drug abuse, my family depended on social services for a lot of assistance, from everything such as food stamps to family counseling. This life experience helped guide my thoughts on pursuing social work as a career. I know that I want to help individuals that are down on their luck, but I want to take it one step farther, by providing individual counseling to adults that may need more one on one time, than what is normally given from a social service agency. Counseling will also give me a chance to do what I love most and that is to talk and get to know the individuals that I am helping make like changing decisions. Working as a clinical social work has my interest because it does not put limits on what I can do or who I can help, and it will set me up for my future goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker. Being my own boss and changing my community is my dream job, opportunity and goal. I am currently on my way with changing my community and living my dream, because I am currently working for a non-profit

On September 12, 2017 I did an interview with Stephanie Coleman who works as Clinical Social Worker at a Group Home for Girls. The questions that were asked; Why did she choose the field of social work rather than psychology, counseling or another helping profession? What circumstances or influences led her to pursue a career as a social worker. She replied “ I chose social work because I have a passion for working

Jen’s start in social work with boys with aggressive sexual behavior was shocking. It felt like there was fulfillment doing this kind of work for her. Personally, I did not know there was a need for this type of service and it is kind of disturbing. Jen also shed light on how much of a team oriented career social work is when describing some of her work over the years. Especially with the medical health community position organizing people to reach so many others that need services from social workers.

Began by writing a mind map where I put down topics and activities that interested me. I then talked to my teachers about how I could refine my choices and one of the questions asked was about my future career choice, I then realized I would like to research my suitability to a career in social work.

I have always been a helper at heart. I am not biased at whom I help. However, I’ve found my passion to be in helping and working with children, families, and women. This passion to help these people not only comes from unfortunate experiences as a child, but the belief that helping those in need will help change their world for the better. The belief that helping that children will not only change their future, but could possibly change the world. To help them achieve a good future you need to help the foundation of their creation and that is their families and women who bear them. One of my social work career goals is to start as an intern at the department of social services, working in child protective services. This will be a challenging, good start for me. This internship could possibly help me pursue this agency as a future employer. I would also like to go into the field after graduating next year. Before I pursue graduate school I want to have idea of what social