Social Work Field Experience

I have wanted to be a social worker and work with children since I have been twelve years old. My dad grew up in the foster care system and is my inspiration for wanting to be a social worker and work with children who have experienced trauma. My freshman field experience opened my eyes to the many different opportunities and varied fields within the social work profession. Every other Monday throughout the spring semester, my freshman field class visited a different agency. In my field experiences during my junior and senior years, I have had the opportunity to experience social work in a school setting. I worked primarily with children who have experienced trauma. My internships experiences have provided me with extensive opportunities …show more content…
From the time I was a child, my parents instilled in me the value of serving others. I began volunteering at the age of nine and have done volunteer work throughout my life. In addition to service trips, I also volunteer in my church and community. In the past, I volunteered at St. Joseph’s Center, working with adults and children who have physical and developmental disabilities. Another of my strengths is my compassion and ability to empathize with clients. Involvement in service from a young age has opened my eyes to the needs of others and has made me a much more compassionate and empathetic person. An additional strength of mine is my hard work ethic and determination. If I set a goal for myself, I work hard to overcome obstacles to achieve that goal. One obstacle that I have had to overcome was paying for my college education. My family has always struggled financially and was not able to provide me with any financial assistance to pay my studies. I have worked hard throughout the last four years to pay for my education. I will utilize my strong work ethic in my practice as a social worker to advocate for my …show more content…
In my senior field experience at Friendship House, I had the opportunity to write some case management notes. Since I did not have my degree yet, I was limited in opportunities to do clinical writing. In my graduate field experiences, one of my goals would be to improve my clinical writing skills. One limitation in my undergraduate course work that would require attention is my opportunity to do macro and mezzo practice social work. The majority of my undergrad course work focused on micro and social work. Both of my junior and senior internships at the Nativity Miguel School and Friend House, I mainly did micro practice social work. At the Nativity Miguel School, I tutored individual clients in Math and English. At Friendship House, I worked clients on an individual basis during the school, observed family sessions with the client and their families and co-facilitated the after school therapy group. In my graduate course work, I hope to be able to gain experience doing mezzo macro social work. One aspect of mezzo social that I am interested in obtaining experience in is community organizing. On the macro level, I am interested in learning more about