Is social work really for me? This is a question I have thought about ever since I declared my major at the beginning of this year. Whether I thought about how I would be paid, if my family would be less proud of me for graduating with this degree, or even if I doubted myself that this was really what I wanted to do, I always thought about if this was the right decision for me.
After being in the Social Work in Social Welfare class for a semester, I can already tell my whole life and all my doubts have led me to this class and this major. I have really been enjoying this class and learning about what the social work major entails. However, I feel as I go along this semester and the rest of my classes, I will be able to find out more about the social work major and find out if I like it as much as I do now.
I have always loved people. I am a very outgoing person with a lot of people, but I do get very nervous at some points when dealing with people I don't know. So, this has always made me question whether the social work major and the career I want to pursue was right for me. Regardless of this, I have been interested in the social work major since I entered Shippensburg University undeclared in the Fall of 2018. I had first thought about entering into the Psychology program here.
I know I wanted to help people, and I picked Psychology as a major because I was hoping to learn more about mental health. I have always found mental disorders and the way the brain works so interesting, and that is why I wanted to go into that field. However, since being in a psychology class and learning everything it takes to be a psychology major, I have realized that the clinical route is not for me at all. So, I figured social work could be even better for me.
Turns out, the profession that I want to be in, mental health counseling, would work for me with a social work degree. My family and friends have struggled with mental health a lot, and they have had rough times dealing with it. I remember hearing all their struggles with their mental health have been so heartbreaking and that made me want to help out people like my family and friends.
There are many qualities that I believe make up a good social worker. Many of them are obvious, but some of them I don't think is too obvious. I think it's important for all social workers to have most, if not all, of these qualities in order to be a successful social worker.
One of the qualities I think is important for a social work student to have is to be a good listener. When someone is telling you about their situation and their life, I don't think you should have a haphazard approach at all. It is important to actually listen to the person and not just act like you are listening. I think that I am a very good listener most of the time, but sometimes I can get sidetracked and accidentally zone out, even if I know I shouldn't. I know that I need to improve on this, and I think I can with a little bit of practice.
Another quality I think is very important for a social worker to have is to be understanding. What I mean by this is that a good social worker has to understand that their personal biases cannot affect how the social worker helps the client. Everyone should be treated with the same respect, no matter the person or the situation. I don't think this is a problem I normally have because I am good with treating all people with the same respect.
The last quality, which I think might be the most important, is empathy. Every person in the social work field must have empathy for other people because of the work that social workers do. You help people that have issues that affect their day to day life and they are very much struggling with. You have to understand their struggles and want to help them. Empathy is a huge part of the social work field and it is important, at least I think, to have this in every social worker.
The NASW Code of Ethics, or the ethics each social worker must abide by, are so important in order to maintain professionalism when doing their work. I have read over the code of ethics and while I think all of them are important, there are two of them that I resonate with the most.
The first one is social injustice. The NASW defines this as "social workers challenge social injustice". Whether this means injustice faced by race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or anything else, we must challenge that and remember that all people are equal and should be treated the same. I have always thought this and I have never used prejudice against a certain group because I do understand that everyone should be equal.
The second one is service. The NASW defines this as "social workers primary goal is to help people in need". As I mentioned earlier, I have always loved to help people and I think that I could help people, no matter their situation in life. I hope to be of service not only to clients that I help but through volunteer work that I hope to become active in, whether it be during my college years or during my career.
The generalist perspective, or what I will be active in when graduating with a BSW, is something that I think I would be successful in. What the generalist perspective is defined as is "to address problematic interactions between persons and their environments or surroundings". I have always thought that I was going to change the world based on whatever I did. I thought I was going to cure world hunger, end racism, end sexism, and end everything bad in the world with my own two hands.
Now, I have realized that is not at all plausible. However, I would like to think I can change at least one person's life through my own practices. Whether that be through my future career or through what I have learned through this class, I think I can do it. I know I can't change the whole world, but maybe I can change one person's world. I am not sure I could contribute something new or innovative to the social work field, but I could contribute something, which is more time and willingness to help people. I feel that will never be unhelpful.
