The events or experiences that led to me to choose social work as a career are events that took place in my life and my and childhood. I had a very hard childhood growing up. I grew up underprivileged and lived in poverty. I suffered a lot of trauma as a child; my mother and father were not able to care for me and my brother due to their use of drugs and criminal behavior. I and my brother lived with my grandmother who had a drinking problem, but managed to do the best she can to care for me and my brother. At a young age, I was raped and the state was forced to remove me from my home. I went from foster home to foster home feeling alone and that no one cared. One thing that always stayed with me was the role my social worker played in my life. I felt like she was the one person that was there for me and if ever I felt like I had no one, I knew that I had her.
My social worker was the light at the end of the tunnel; she gave me the inspiration and encouragement that I needed to be strong and move on with my life. She had such a profound effect on my life that her words I still carry even to this day. As I got older, I learned to use my experiences as a tool to help and inspire others and that’s exactly what I have been doing. I wanted to encourage and inspire others who are in need or in doubt of themselves just like what my social worker did for me.
I decided to enter graduate school at this time because I feel like it’s now or never. I have to follow my passion and
Working in the social services field was always my dream. Whether working with children, family, adults, elderly etc. this career path is so broad it instills the hope of a career opportunity. My first year working in this field was in 2010 when I interned as an intake specialist in an outpatient drug treatment facility, while completing my bachelor’s degree in human services. Thereafter, I was able to branch off in various areas such as a case manager at a domestic violence shelter, housing specialist, substance abuse counselor and now a family services specialist.
Before I knew exactly what the social work profession consisted of, I knew I wanted a career that focused on helping others. I explored options including medical and nursing fields, but they did not fit what I was destined for. It was not until I began working in a mental health office for a Licensed Independent Social Worker and a Prescribing Psychologist, that I knew the social work field was for me. It was during that job three years ago when I learned the social work profession and its core values consist of helping others achieve the best life possible with what they have. It is seeing the possibilities that others do not see and assisting individuals in navigating through them with patience and perseverance. The social work
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.
I chose social working as my career because many other people go through tough situations and have a difficult time talking to relatives or friends to help them through a tough situation. I thought of becoming a social worker so I can have the ability to change the lives of others. Social work is one of those careers you can truly make a difference in people’s lives. I want to become a social worker because life isn’t about just helping yourself it’s about helping others as well, which is what social workers do for a living. Child and family social workers protect children and families in need of assistance. Many families and children don’t feel comfortable talking to just anyone about obstacles they have faced in their lives which is why
All my life my parents have taught me the value of helping others. Having different experiences and growing up in an atmosphere where the need of others were put before our own, led me to have a desire to be a social worker. Believing that being a social worker involves many special skills, as an example one of those that u need to interact with people from different cultures and principles than me. For as long as I remember I have had the desire to become a social worker inspiring people and developing people that will drive me to dedicate my excitement and dedication to do what is important in this dream job a reality.
For a majority of my life, I wanted to be a pediatrician when I grew up. I had wanted to be a pediatrician due to my passion to work with children, in addition to enhancing the lives of children. As I continued to grow up, I realized that science is not my strong suit and I would never survive medical school. I do not recall how I learned about the profession of social work, but around the eighth grade I have known that social work was the profession that I wanted to pursue. The idea of helping others is what initially struck me as compelling because I did not understand social work in it’s entirety, but I knew that I would relish a life of helping other individuals.
My passion for social work originated in my senior year of undergraduate school. During my senior, year my single, adoptive mother had passed. A couple of months following her death, I found myself homeless. I had just turned 18 and I was a jobless high school student sleeping from couch to couch. During this time of my life there was one individual who supported me. The high school social worker was a strong support for me. I didn’t have any family support and thus fell on hard times. A college professor once told me that people who choose social work as a major do it because that had someone in their life who influenced them to become a social worker. If that person wasn’t in my life, my personal growth would have differed completely. It was at this point that I realized it only takes one caring individual to hugely impact someone 's life for the better. To be that person to someone else is my highest aspiration in life.
When I first started into the Social work field was because of my son, Evan, who has a medical diagnose of Autistic Spectrum Disorder. In the past 11 year of his life, I have worked with many professional from teachers to councilors but it was not until my family and I moved to Colorado, that we meet a School social worker that was very helpful in navigating the school system with a child with special needs. I started the social work program at Pikes Peak Community Collage because I wanted to work in the school systems and help children and their parents navigate the public school system insuring that the child is receiving all support and services guaranteed by the Americans with Disability Act. I did not want another family to not have access to life changing resources just because they were never informed of them.
My childhood along with my life experiences played a major role in my choice to pursue social work as my career. I grew up with a single mother that was drug dependent. I moved back in forth between my mother’s and my grandparent’s household. I didn’t have a
1. Why or what led you to become a social worker or select social work as a career.
I am passionate about many things but I want to find a profession that will help me accomplish encouraging people to take action in fixing their livelihood instead of being a passive bystander. I want to motivate struggling individuals with the services that would be provided so they can get back on their feet and enjoy all the amazing things life has to offer. I don’t believe “I” decided to be a social worker. I was born to be a social worker. I believe it was a part of me from day one. Social work has influenced me in wanting to make a difference in the world. I knew I would be in the field of helping but thought I would be a teacher. I actually switched majors halfway through college because I did not feel fulfilled. I hope once I have finished and get my degree, I can use the gift that I have been given to change someone’s life for the better. Being a Social Worker is about empowering someone and inspire them to help themselves and I know that I have what it takes. There isn’t one particular thing or someone that has influenced my decision in becoming a professional helper. There were several incidents in my life as well as people that I have come across throughout my life. Events like Hurricanes Katrina impacted my immediate surroundings and drew me even closer to the real work of social workers. I can’t pinpoint an exact person or event that sealed the deal for me because I have come in contact with
When I first thought about getting a degree in Sociology, I did not realize how wide the focus could be. It seems like the possibilities are endless. Before narrowing down my search and accessing my goals, I felt quite overwhelmed and did not have much faith that I would be able to narrow it down when there were so many different interests and passions I had when it came to making the world a better place. While there are several different possible careers that spark my interest, I do have a couple of main focuses that have been in my thoughts for quite some time.
This was the hardest moment of my life, throughout this time I learned what a social worker was. I had a social worker while my mother was in hospice, and she was the best. She led my family through this hard time and helped me understand what was going on. From that moment on, I knew that my purpose was to be a social worker. That social worker helped me through the most vulnerable time in my life, and I now desire to do the same for others.
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
Two Year MSW Supplemental Questions 2018 Application What experiences motivate you to become a social worker? I am applying for a place to study social work because I have always wanted to make a difference in people’s lives. I gained some insight into mental health while caring for my mom, who has been struggling with serious physical and mental health issues such as an eating disorder, depression and anxiety since I was young. I witnessed my mother in an endless cycle of binging and purging food due to a strong hate for her body, which eventually lead to depression and generalized anxiety disorder. In my first year of university, I began to show the same signs as my mother.