Friday, November 16, 2012
How I Ended Up as a Social Worker
I hadn’t even heard of social work
before I got to college. I graduated high school intending to major in
secondary education, and planned to return as an English teacher. I wanted to
impact lives, and imagined that that would probably happen by hanging around
after class and being available as a listening ear for my students.
I was pretty shy and insecure
throughout most of my high school years, but through a scheduling error I ended
up in a theatre class during my senior year. It helped my break out of my shell.
I found that laughing at myself and actively engaging people was a good defense
to my natural reluctance to share of myself. I enjoyed the theatre class,
and I especially enjoyed my newfound outgoingness. I think I wanted to know
people all along, but I finally was developing skills to help me do so. It’s
amazing how well people respond to someone who actually wants to know their
story.
In college, I was still fresh on
the “actively meeting people to avoid insecurity” strategy. I researched
several campus activities. One was a program that arranged for college students
to spend social time with folks with severe developmental disabilities.
Although I didn’t end up serving in that group, the interview changed the
course of my life. I casually asked the student leader what she was majoring
in. It was social work. I hadn’t heard of it, and she described simply, “It’s
helping people.”
I’m not
generally prone to quick decisions, but I did switch my major to social work a shortly
after learning about it. I had prayed right around that time that God would use
me for whatever God needed. I remember feeling affirmed in my new direction
when I learned that my pastor, a major role model to me, had also majored in social
work.
I made
the switch in October. Over the next few years, I studied the history of the
profession, human development,
therapeutic skills, policy, law, community practice. I was incredulously amused
at the concept of reflective listening... Just rephrase and repeat back what someone
tells you? Thirteen years later, I find that it’s been the single most helpful
tool.
I kept engaging
with classmates, professors, and other students during college. By
intentionally engaging them, I grew more confident in myself, which helped me
more easily reach out to others. My desire is and has been to hear stories, to
be a listening ear and a compassionate friend. Social work has been a great
avenue for me to do that. And I got here through an accidentally-schedule theater class and a casual question in an interview for a group I didn’t even
join.
Like social work? You might like my recent post on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
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So glad you found social work and that you are sharing your experiences here. My mother-in-law is a social work professor at the University of Botswana - it is a field that requires a special kind of person and that needs advocates like yourself.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much! I wonder how the experience of social work differs from country to country!
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