Why Have You Chosen To Pursue Social Work

1) Why have you chosen to pursue a social work education and career?
(Max 300 words)

I always knew I wanted to work with people; when I was younger I thought I might be a psychologist, but the more I studied it, the more I realized I didn’t want to diagnose people as one thing. I think working with people is so much more individual based than people realised; the way one person deals with depression could be so much different than a way another person does. Co-morbidity with mental illness is so prevalent that I don’t think the answer is diagnosing people anymore, as that answer might not give you the right tools to help this person. I’m more focused on the whole of a person, than on one aspect of their selves. I think the social determinants
(Max 300 words)

I started off working as a Day Camp leader and that’s when I realized how much I enjoyed working with youth, and it made me realize how much children benefit from routine and rules. I then started working with the YMCA, where I was working with underprivileged people as well as middle class people and how everyone kind of worked together to make a system that benefitted everyone. My strengths are that I am very compassionate about others, I think every person deserves safety and to be validated within society. I believe I know enough about Social work theories that I could help anyone, from focusing on their strengths to functional theory to anti-oppressive social work. My weakness would be that I don’t have the experience I want with all aspects of social work, I’d like to get experience within a hospital setting vs. a school setting. I’ve worked with youth and people with disabilities, but I would also like to explore elderly case management. I have learned that I am a compassionate person but I think I have a great sense of humor and fun, I think I could combat the burnout experienced by social workers and other humanitarian professions by taking time for myself and keeping
(Max 300 words)

My most influential learning experiences have been with the GED program and volunteering at SCEP. Working with GED program had me working with people all over Canada, from Blackfoot to La Ronge to Manitoba. I was also working with Correctional centres from all over Saskatchewan, and this experience really resonated with me on how different (and similar!) people’s stories were. I helped an 80 year old man get his GED, and I also helped an 18 year old new mother, every person was different; the similarities were the oppression I saw within Government of aboriginal people and how hard it was to ever get off reserve and land a job. I have also taken indigenous studies within the U of R and that has also broadened my mind to the injustices of aboriginal people within Canada. Working at the SCEP centre gives me the same satisfaction of being able to see the ways I have helped others. The SCEP Centre is for children under the age of 5, who have some form of behavioural or learning disability which prevents them being able to be in large groups of peers. I came into SCEP thinking that youth this young couldn’t express what was happening within their lives, but it really opened my eyes to how different people experience grief/sadness/anger differently. The YMCA also showed me how to deal with