Personal Narrative: My Interest In Social Work

Part I (Autobiographical Essay):  What were the significant factors that influenced your choice of social work? What skills and experiences do you have that will contribute to your success as a graduate student and social work professional? How is the GCSW a good place for you to build on those skills? 2 pages, double spaced, 12 point font

The history of mental health in the United States show a robust movement towards the mental healthcare system we have today. Prior to the 19th century, individuals with mental health issues were widely considered to be demonically possessed, thus contributing to the stigmatization of mental illness and the proliferation of poor treatment conditions. However, in the 1800s, there was a dramatic change in mental healthcare in the U.S. The government took a proactive role in treating the mentally ill, leading to the dawn of state psychiatric facilities.

I am passionate on helping people and making changes in others’ lives. Like I stated before, my mother had been trapped herself in the apologetic emotion for years. The mental burden had made her down. Therefore, I decided to help my mother get rid of the self-accusation, by using the knowledge I learned in the Human Services major. To illustrate, I was telling her that it was not her fault of divorce, and she was not showing me the negative image of a marriage. Instead, I admire her braveness of ending a marriage when it was necessary, especially in the time when people were stereotyping divorced women and at the place where people were being judgmental. Now, her self-blameless has been reduced, and she told me that she was not felt as guilty

For as long as I can remember I have always wanted to pursue a career in social work. Helping others is something I have always been passionate about and I hope to be able to make a difference in the lives of those around me. Throughout my life, I have always been the person my friends would go to when something was wrong and they needed to talk. Growing up, I also experienced close family members struggle with addiction and mental health problems. I have seen how damaging these experiences can be on an individual. I have also witnessed the effects these experiences can have on family relationships. My personal occurrences have instilled in me a further desire to become a social worker.

Social work is a career that finds and chooses you, rather than you selecting it. Social work has always been an immense portion of my life even when I had no recollection of what social work entailed. My life revolved around so many situations that had a social worker stepped in, my life would be totally different than it is today. Many individuals and agencies lack the compassion and empathy for oppressed people. Having been in many circumstances, has given me the experience and background that influenced me to go into social work, as well as the understanding of my role and responsibilities that I will assume as a professional social worker, and my reasons for selecting the program at ASU School of Social Work and thoughts on how the Mission Statement addresses my career goals.

Ever since I was a child, I loved helping others. Whether it was helping my mother take care of my little brother or helping my fellow classmates with an assignment, I was always there to lend a hand. This passion continued throughout my childhood and into early adulthood. When I began my undergraduate degree at Lewis University, I knew I wanted to help people in some type of capacity. I was guided to the path of Social Work because in this field I could combine both my passion for helping others and interest in social justice. After my first day in the Introduction to Social Work course at Lewis University, I knew that I had found my forever home. This career path would allow me to help others in a variety of different settings and capacities.

My interest in community service began in high school when I joined Key Club, a community service and leadership building organization focused on volunteer work. As time went on, I became the Junior Board Director, representing and guiding eleventh grade students during volunteer projects. We raised money for ZZ (UNICEF) and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (ZZ), organized social carnivals for Big Brothers Big Sisters, and helped set up and run-walks for March of Dimes and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, to name a few. I enjoy volunteering because it gives me a chance to share my many skills while learning new skills and working with people of all

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.

On Monday, January 11 2016 my fall break was over and I found myself back in at internship at Leland elementary. After almost three weeks of vacation time I must say I was not ready for the event that was about to take place that day. Around noon in one of the classrooms I was alerted of the disruptive behavior of some of the students in that class. As I walked in the class I noticed to young ladies in each other faces saying vigor language and within seconds they were fighting.

This week went by really fast for some reason or maybe it was because I was constantly busy all week long. This week I had a patient who just stuck out to me and when I went into her room to get her to sign the important message from medicare form I just felt like we connected. After I had been in her room for about twenty minutes talking I guess one of the case managers realized I was still in the room so she came and walked to the door way to ask me a question. When I went to the door she told me she just wanted to check on me because the patient was bipolar and she just wanted to make sure I was safe. Note the door was open the entire time I was there and I was standing about two feet from the door talking to the patient. The patient was

1.The experiences I have had that have prepared me to pursue a master’s degrees in social work have been time at the Boys & Girls Club, being an officer for an honor society, and my placement at a social service agency. While I was attending community college, I began working at the Boys & Girls Club of South County for their before and after school program. During my time there, I learned the importance of time management, and I got to see the impact parent involvement could have on a student. The after school program was going through many changes and began incorporating more educational activities. As a Group Leader, I had to schedule my day to implement the new activities, like comic book readings and STEM projects, as well as the daily journals, homework time, snack time and the enrichment activity of the day. The 5 hours we had with the students were booked back to back so it was important to plan the days ahead of time, and prepare for the next day after the students had gone. As for parent involvement, after spending hours with my group of 19 students every week, I was able to tell which parents had a bigger involvement in their student’s

This narrative autobiography outlines my work experience and personal interest in the position of LNA Foreign Service Social Worker with the U.S. Department of State (DOS). I am a PhD-trained clinical social worker who is highly adaptable, interested in foreign service and strongly committed to the U.S., confident, and solution-focused. In my work experience, I have assessed, diagnosed, and engaged people from a variety of cultural backgrounds. I have engaged in the world as a global citizen through extensive personal travel. Below I discuss my work experience as well as personal motivations for the position.

In every career there are pros and cons. Some may have more than others but they are always dependent upon the person working in the career. The mindset of the worker is most important to an individual because it affects the person’s perception of the job which affects the person’s work ethic. Being a social worker requires knowledge and dedication, and throughout this class I believe I was introduced to each practice. As a student taking micro practice I initially thought the course was going to be very difficult and hard to retain the information given. As the course went on I realized there are a lot of activities given that made it easy to comprehend the information and if I changed my mind set I would do great in the class. Two things

My interest in the field of social work field began with personal experiences early in childhood. Not only did I obtain firsthand knowledge about mental health from therapists, but I was also thrust into a helping role as a teenager. When I was a child, my mother received therapy from a social worker and a psychiatrist after my grandparents after she entered a mental hospital following a suicide attempt. Although the social worker referred my mother to a psychiatrist for an official diagnosis of depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) as well for medication, she provided therapy after my mother began treatment and continued for several years.

Every worthwhile journey begins with one step. My social work journey began when I received my undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 2003. I thought my next step would be to immediately pursue a graduate degree. In my undergraduate career I had taken numerous classes from the College of Social and Behavioral Science and had done well in those classes. In my Social Work as a Profession course I had an assignment to shadow a social worker and write a paper about my experience. I chose to shadow my father-in-law, a social worker with over 30 years of experience, and in my paper I expressed my desire to go into the social work field. I knew I liked helping people. I knew I liked problem solving and critical thinking. I thought my 22 year-old self was ready to embark on that journey, but I wasn’t. I realize now that what I lacked at graduation was one crucial step… perspective. Over the past twelve years I have gained that much needed perspective and have taken many steps forward in my journey, and with those steps and that increased perspective, I now feel more fully prepared to begin my social work career.