Promote Justice, Education and Well-Being

My aim for selecting social work is to promote justice, education, and well-being. I aspire to foster and empower people to rise above adversity. I believe social work is diverse, inventive, poignant, and purposeful. The various possibilities are vital to me, I can work in mental health, research, child welfare, prisons, or drug treatment.

Concerning career objectives, I would like to specialize in a specific field like psychotherapy. I want to concentrate on mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and its link with homelessness. Whether I am helping patients conquer addictions or leave abusive situations, social work necessitates both individual and community advocacy. I am concerned with uniting communities, helping individuals, nurturing human welfare, and advancing productive policy changes.

Many people assume homelessness is a choice, numerous people are uneducated and unaware of the myriad of catalysts that could generate homelessness. Addressing the association of homelessness with mental illness is one of my greatest social concerns, there are many financial and legal obstacles that halt the ability to receive treatment. Recurrent problems comprise mental illness, domestic violence, and medical issues. Helping clients regain hope and awareness can be accomplished by offering support, recognizing negative experiences, formulating treatment plans, and prioritizing physical health and mental wellness.

Those with mental illness can be diagnosed and treated, however, many are unable to access supportive housing and treatment services due to societal and financial reasons. To resolve these issues, I believe there needs to be more transitional supportive housing with affordable integrative mental health services. I believe these services should entail a variety of treatment options, such as health care and employment opportunities.

When I turned fifteen, my mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, I witnessed her challenges with depression, delusions, anger, and suicidal thoughts. I grew up watching my mom transition from being a successful history teacher with a zest for culture and the past, to not working and resisting medicine. My mother would consistently claim that people on television or the radio were watching her and wanted to kill her. It was like getting lost in a maze of interminable emotions. There was immense confusion, fear, sadness, shame, and self-pity.

My mother soon lost her job, money was scarce, and we were either living in our van, a women's shelter, or begging a family member to let us stay for a few months. When children are involved, lacking a regular residence forms an array of issues, such as food instability. Being homeless and mentally ill disrupts a person emotionally and cognitively; concentration is weakened, and thinking is muddled. As a teenager, there was a constant cycle of unpredictability, when a person has a low socioeconomic status, receiving treatment is challenging, I knew my mother needed help, but affordability seemed near impossible.

After living in a women's shelter, I took the role of getting my mother help. My grandmother and I helped my mom receive treatment and therapy. Having transitional housing and a support system was critical in helping my mother regain stability. With time, she received minor teaching and tutoring jobs. And with time, I started noticing inner positivity, like how growing up faster can be advantageous. I learned how to handle money, time, and disruptions better than my peers. I realized that my ability to cognize differently, my feeling emotions more sympathetically, and seeing patterns where others can misconstrue them was truly helpful in my development as a young adult.

From May 2017 to October 2018, I worked at Bealls as a shoe lead, working in customer service necessitates directing other employees, working with customers, asking questions, overcoming numerous objections, and dealing with frustrated people. Currently, I work at Ear, Nose, and Throat Associates of South Florida as an audiology assistant. Being an audiology assistant involves competent speaking and listening skills, my instructional skills and my interpersonal skills are used with patients to clarify situations in terms they comprehend.

Being an audiology assistant requires me to be patient and considerate as I try to elucidate the patient's health concerns. Primarily, I work with hearing loss, and often people show signs of grief and discomfort about their hearing. Hearing loss can be considered an invisible impairment that many try to secrete from others for fear of how they will be perceived. Part of my job is to reassure and demonstrate hope for patients. Some people require hearing tests, others receive hearing aids, however, there is still a social stigma concerned with hearing loss. Likewise, with social work, there are many social stigmas that accompany social issues such as mental health and homelessness. As an audiology assistant, I have learned how to minimalize social stigmas by educating, being positive, and helping others be cognizant of their attitudes and biases.

Social work requires similar attributes and necessitates passion and diligence, these are qualities I have fortified working as a shoe lead and now as an audiology assistant. Within any job profession, it is vital to achieve responsibilities efficiently so conflicts are curtailed. Working as a leader and an assistant requires a structural approach of compiling specific information while maintaining a holistic view. I believe that independent work does not neglect the efforts of a team. I have learned it is pertinent to utilize efficient social skills and consider several perspectives in the workplace to help patients achieve their personal goals.

I believe an important quality for social work is empathy, it is vital to modify services to meet a client's needs rather than my own. When I consider another person's view, I broaden my own, I become less egocentric and more altruistic. Empathy is something I have acquired by overcoming personal adversities. Maintaining a sympathetic presence is crucial, people and situations can change suddenly. Instead of responding with stress or rage, I utilize my active listening skills and respond with patience and self-awareness. I have seen how counselors and social workers used their skills to assist my mother's progress. Their persistence and dedication have inspired me to obtain my master's in social work and help others recuperate and reclaim stability and positivity in their lives.

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