Why I Chose Human Services

To accomplish anything in life, you must set goals. These goals must be realistic and achievable. Two years ago, I was at a point in my life that I never believed I would see. I was finally at my associate’s degree graduation day. Becoming at teen mom at 17, college had never even crossed my mind. This was a moment in my life where I was able to not be your average teen mom statistic. Continuing to better my life and my daughter’s I set a new goal after graduation to achieve my bachelor’s degree. After speaking with UMUC counselors, I decided to obtain my bachelor’s degree in Social Science with a minor in Emergency Management. Currently, I am in my final two classes at UMUC with a scheduled graduation date of May 15.

The purpose of this interview is to explore human service professional in their work environment, and observe human service professional in their particular settings, what type of education is required for their position of choice. The human services profession has a variety of populations that they serve; this is a wide array of people. Human service professionals serve populations such as, high-risk mothers who may have shortfalls in education, psychosocial, nutritional, and little or no transportation. Another is the homeless population, lack housing due to being unable to afford, or maintain safe and adequate housing. The elderly is a population that is increasing, there needs range from chronic illness, lack of or little education,

The career in which I am pursuing is Human Service Bachelor Degree, the reason why I am pursuing this career is because of the passion I have for helping people reach their full potential when crossing my path. There was many people who help me along the way throughout my entire life, so I feel it only right to give back. Now before I started attending Saint Leo University my career major switch twice .I was thinking about a career in the hospital such as the HealthCare Management then I went on thinking I don’t just want a degree where I am stuck in one career field. I will like a degree where I can move around throughout my community. According to the national human service.org the social and economic characteristic human service is a professionally

The field of Human Services is wide and varied umbrella of smaller sections. According to NOHS (n.d.), human service workers can be found in any setting from schools, to government agencies, and even in hospitals and mental health institutions. Combing through each option in search of the perfect career can be a daunting task. Where will a I fit in best? The answer can only be provided through thorough research and with the help of good programs such as the programs found at Lindsey Wilson College. This paper will focus on Social and Human Service Assistants, more

The Human Services Informational Interview was conducted on the phone I interviewed Tara Dakolios. She started in the Human Services field with a Master degree in Education from Virginia College and started working at the Hilton head Preparatory School. After working there for years she missed doing education and had an opportunity with the University of South Carolina Beaufort as an advisor. Before being in the Human Services Field she wasn’t aware of it being declared a major and knew she always had a passion for helping people. The skills utilized in the Human Services Field are being adaptive, organized, multi-tasking and time management. College help prepare her for the field in many aspects such as being a basketball coach and assisting

I want to major in “Human Services”. By getting a master’s degree in human services you can become many different things such as a marriage and family therapist, human services educator, a drug and alcohol counselor, a school social worker, and many other things.

I want to pursue a career in Human Services because this is where my calling is. When graduation got closer and closer teachers, staff, and students asked “Where are you going from here? What is the overall goal?” I told them that I was going to Cazenovia College to study Human Services and that my overall goal was to become a medical Social Worker in a hospital and be placed on cases with children. Once I told them this they all said I was going in the right direction and that I would be perfect for the job. I believe I can do this job and be successful because my childhood life and financial situation, being assaulted, and all the community service I have completed and awards I have received

The specific area of interest within human services is mental health facilitation. I was raised in a household where all adults were involved in health care in one form or another. My maternal grandmother was an LPN and my mother is a Mental Health Counselor. Of course, my mother’s interest soon became my own, which inspired me to volunteer at mental health organizations even at the age of ten, where I spent my afternoons with helping with children suffering from mental retardation. An additional factor for my career decisions was, at the age of 21, I was diagnosed with Bi Polar disorder with suicidal ideations. It took several years for me to learn to manage my disorders and become a participating member

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.

The decision to pursue my education in social work at Dalhousie University was not an easy one. While I was growing up, my career choice changed all of them time, but I always knew that I wanted to do something fulfilling, in which I could “help” and support people. My mom was a nurse and always loved helping people; I always figured I would follow in her footsteps, however I learned at an early age that sciences do not come easy to me. Unfortunately, my mom lost her battle to breast cancer when I was eight years old, so I hope that by me helping people socially, rather than medically like she did, will continue her legacy.

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.

As I continue with social work, I developed an interest working with children and youth in a school setting. Eventually, I switched my major and was probably the toughest decision I had to make. Studying social work as an undergrad at Humboldt State helped me find who I am and what I want to become. I found a sense of belonging by developing a perspective of my own struggles while growing up. I realize how common systemic oppression affects not only me, but everyone around me. Understanding systemic issues, knowing the barriers that people face first hand, encourages me to want to work hard to fight against inequality.

After I graduated from the University of California Santa Barbara I was unsure what my next step would be. Of course I was anxious since I did not have experience working nor did I excel in my undergrad studies however, I knew I needed to use my newly earned degree in a positive way. Fast forward, after working for two years, I have gained the skills, knowledge and values from my work experiences that have confirmed my desire to advance my education in the social work field. I currently have my own case load of clients as a case manager at a level 12 group home but it’s time to take the next step forward. I want to ultimately advance social justice and provide services to assist individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities.

The reason why I am motivated to pursue a professional career in social and human services work is because I believe it is the greatest achievement that I would ever accomplish. It would make me proud to know that I am providing support; protection and safety to people that are in need. “A powerful motive for pursuing social or human service work is personal experience” (Chenoweth & McAuliffe, 2015, p. 10). This relates to my own personal experience for example when I was growing up I experienced many abuse such as bullying and domestic violence. My own mother was abused by my father and she did not have

What qualities make an individual a good fit to pursue a career in the field of Human Services? Personally, I am interested in the field of Human Services because I want to help others. Growing up as a child, my lifestyle was anything, but ordinary. I seldom had time for education, although my family tried their best to do what they could, given the unfortunate issues our family struggled with. Even with small issues that have followed me throughout my life, I’ve managed to further my education and push myself to pursue better outcomes for my future. If life has taught me anything, it’s that just because you’re handed rough predicaments throughout life doesn’t mean they should guide you in your future outcome. Take life’s struggles and make them into something positive. Throughout Human Services we’ve learned a lot about ourselves, which I will discuss below.