Social Service Learning

Social Work and Service Learning

Social work to me is helping others in need to improve the well being of an individual or group. Since the profession of social work was created it has been known as the helping profession. Social work incorporates social policy to meet basic human needs. Social workers have many roles that they play starting with being an Activist and an Advocate. Social workers are not only a support system, but also they go out there and express issues clients are facing. Social workers have standards for service, social justice, human dignity, worth, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence. With these values, social workers help to make ethical decisions that really focus on the individual’s needs.
I have been all over the place with trying to figure out what specific type of social work I would enjoy doing, or where my experiences would serve a greater good. Being able to narrow it down this semester and actually go to a site and experience first hand the tasks I will be doing will make me grow not only as a social work student but also as a person. With this course I am looking forward to bringing back my experiences and what I’ve learned to the class and everyone discussing what they experienced. I think this will help me not only in what I will currently be doing but also any future endeavors. This course will push me out of my comfort zone and take what I have been learning and apply it to the field. The challenges I think that I will face will be the ability of leaving my emotions at the door and becoming impartial to clients situations. I also think it will be challenging to work with children. It is one thing to read a case study in a book, but to actually see a situation first hand and experience it will be challenging. To overcome these challenges I plan on stepping out of my comfort zone and reaching out for how others at the site deal with these challenges. I also plan on seeking out help from fellow classmates to see how they overcome similar
Without being forced to grow people stay within a certain level of comfort. By not putting yourself out there and pushing yourself, you won’t change or grow. I tried to pick a site that isn’t my first choice to think outside the box and open myself up to new experiences. I view a strong sense of oneself as another quality to have to change. With a sense of self you know what you would like to achieve and form a plan that works best for you to achieve this. An example of change in my life would be the transition from community college and working full time to a University and cutting back tremendously on availability at work. This was a change I was nervous about and didn’t want to experience until I didn’t have a choice. If I wanted to better my future, and myself I needed to put work on the back burner and focus on my education. I challenged myself with a larger course load and adjusted my priorities. I knew what I was capable of and made a plan to keep myself focused, but also knew it was going to be quite an adjustment. I try to remind myself that change is inevitable, but with setting goals and a plan you can adjust and