Before entering ATC’s Social Work Assistance Program I felt disconnected from my previous career and very unsure of what I wanted to do with my future. I realized early on that I am driven by the need to help others and facilitate positive change around me. Yet, I felt those needs unfulfilled in my previous profession. Discovering social work, regardless of where it may lead me, peaked my interests in such a way that no other field really has.
I knew I found something special during the first class because of Mrs. Watts’ ability to break down barriers and get her students to open up about their insecurities and really question why they were here. With each week of class I learned more about this field, but I also learned more about myself. …show more content…
I come from a background of struggle and poverty, which later led to addiction, homelessness, sexual assault, mental/physical illness, and death in my family. My younger brother is on the Autism spectrum and for the first 6 years of his life I helped my single mother raise him. At the time, it seemed normal for me to miss school so my mother could work. I even failed every class my junior year of high school due to attendance. My mother lived in fear of social workers because she believed they would take her children away. I distinctly remember her pacing back and forth most weekends worried someone would call CPS on her because I missed too much school. Today, with the help of this program/course and the concepts/theories it has taught me, I’m able to articulate to my family that social workers are there to promote overall well being and shouldn’t be feared. I try to encourage my mother to seek the help she needs when she’s struggling – something she ended up doing this November. One day, I hope to help my brother navigate the system if and when he needs it as an adult. Before this class there were parts of me that feared the system because I believed it was one that had failed me. After this course I realize it was the fear and social stigma that limited my family from receiving the necessary resources to
I knew I found something special during the first class because of Mrs. Watts’ ability to break down barriers and get her students to open up about their insecurities and really question why they were here. With each week of class I learned more about this field, but I also learned more about myself. …show more content…
I come from a background of struggle and poverty, which later led to addiction, homelessness, sexual assault, mental/physical illness, and death in my family. My younger brother is on the Autism spectrum and for the first 6 years of his life I helped my single mother raise him. At the time, it seemed normal for me to miss school so my mother could work. I even failed every class my junior year of high school due to attendance. My mother lived in fear of social workers because she believed they would take her children away. I distinctly remember her pacing back and forth most weekends worried someone would call CPS on her because I missed too much school. Today, with the help of this program/course and the concepts/theories it has taught me, I’m able to articulate to my family that social workers are there to promote overall well being and shouldn’t be feared. I try to encourage my mother to seek the help she needs when she’s struggling – something she ended up doing this November. One day, I hope to help my brother navigate the system if and when he needs it as an adult. Before this class there were parts of me that feared the system because I believed it was one that had failed me. After this course I realize it was the fear and social stigma that limited my family from receiving the necessary resources to