Essay on Social Work Narrative

What has attracted you to the helping professions? Who in your life has influenced your decision to consider this role for yourself? I have always had a love for helping others. I first heard about social work through a friend. I began doing lots of research on this helping profession to get a better understanding. I found that Social Workers are responsible for helping individuals, families, and groups of people cope with problems and improve their lives. I also enjoy helping others in a time a need so social work matched some of my qualities perfectly.

Explain how you became interested in social work and why you chose social work as a major.

I can see myself having social working as a career for the rest of my life because I like helping people face problems that they can’t face on their own. I love working with children, families, and being able to experience working with others and helping them face obstacles that their facing in their life. One of many reasons I would also enjoy social working as a career would be helping these people overcome obstacles they thought they’d never overcome. While growing up and facing tough situations in life, I always had family and friends there for me which is why I would love to help others and be there for them because it’s a great feeling knowing that you have people there wanting to listen to you and help you through problems.

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.

According to the National Association of Social Work, “The primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty. A historic and defining feature of social work is the profession’s focus on individual well-being in a social context and the well-being of society. Fundamental to social work is attention to the environmental forces that create, contribute to, and address problems in living.”

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.

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.

Social work may not be the most respected profession but it’s a recognizable one. Social workers help people or groups identify their problems, determine their skills and capacities, what they are doing well, and how that was accomplished, and then analyze ways that those strengths might be applied to the identified problems. Social workers are helping professionals.

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

myself. My dad leans over, kisses my forehead and whispers “They are watching you. You can’t cry. You must act happy or else they will think something is wrong.”

I had a social worker of my very own growing up, because of my parent’s substance abuse. I had to live with my paternal grandmother for some years. A social worker would come visit, but it wouldn’t be very often. I could tell even at a very young age that she didn’t really care about me. From that moment on, I knew I wanted to become a social worker; a child welfare social worker. I want the opportunity to connect with the children in my cases, by helping them the best way I can and most importantly making them aware that I care.

#1 A: Social work can be defined as a broad profession, with the sole purpose of improving the lives and relieving the hardships of the members of a population. Social work addresses many problems for the well being of society, including: health care, criminal justice and domestic violence, economic and public policies, child and family welfare, as well as homelessness. Social workers are trained professionals with the education and tools necessary to address problems from several different perspectives, with the intention of helping the masses and not just individuals. Social workers have the ability to inform people in need of resources available to help them achieve a wide variety of goals, whether personal social mobility, or financial independence.

Social Work is a field of interest to me because of the positive effort it contributes to society. Within the social work profession individuals are striving to improve the welfare of those in need of assistance. Social Workers assist a variety of individuals; from children, young adolescents, older adults, mentally ill, substance abuse individuals, and many other minorities; as in LGBT members, veterans, homeless people, and low socioeconomic status individuals. The broad mix population fascinates me because within this field one will always be able to work in a flexible environment. Social Work is used in multiple settings as in hospitals, nursing skilled homes, mental health and substance abuse clinics, schools, correctional facilities, community centers, child welfare agencies, employee assistance programs, and private practices.

Also, in my past there has been instances that have drawn me to the field of social work. I have had a few family members who have had several different issues dealing with drugs, abuse, and their children being placed in foster care. In one case I took one of the children into my home and my parents took three children into their home. Every family has some different situations, but these incidents have opened my eyes to many new things. This is one of the reasons I feel social work would be a good fit for me. I enjoy helping others build themselves up and make a better life for them and their families. It is a blessing to be part of a team who helps families, children, and groups in need. Helping children get out of bad situations is one of the most rewarding jobs you could ever have in life.