Sociology

Social work is a branch of social science which is committed to the pursuit of quality life and social justice of individuals in a certain community or the society as a whole, with an aim of developing their full potential. The scope of this field of work involves solving social problems by the use of social science, which involves the use of research and practice. My interest in social work developed when I moved in to the United States of America, as a Vietnamese migrant about 13 years ago. My migration was due to the fact that Vietnam is a developing nation, and I want to be able to present my self with more opportunities, for the sake of my family. Thus this has been my motivation for doing social work. My migration and interest in social work, according to me are related, since my migration was all in a bid to present my loved ones with the opportunity to succeed. My need to assist people is usually second nature and I thought that the best way to make good use of this opportunity that I am presented with, was to get the relevant education that will give me the power to assist other people. My interest is based on the philosophy that, when one is blessed with an opportunity, it is wise to help the people around you, and present them with the same opportunities that you were presented with. The values of social work are also the main reason why I chose to take up a profession in this field, since its values and mine are in tandem. Social work shares the burden of the oppressed. This is a value that I also have, since I do not like to see anyone suffering alone. Social work is also a profession that is creative, innovative and will work outside boundaries doing things out of the norm that other people wont do. I am always willing to go out of my way to assist people around me, and this is a very important aspect of social work. Some of the other values of social work that fit into my own value system include, how it helps individuals live their lives, it is the only profession which is doing something about diversity, it also makes a commitment to the people who society has rejected and values them, social work doesnt judge and provides acceptance and finally social workers in general link lifestyles communities, service users and families into one universal service experience. Thus I believe that the urge for me to make a career choice in social work was a drive that came from within and it is inborn.

When I initially moved into the United States, I was relatively unfamiliar with my newly acquired environment. So when I was received by my host family, I was really very happy that people, who didnt know me as such, would offer their services as they did. They took care of my immediate needs till I could take care of my own, and they did not ask for any thing in return. In my books, this is a form of social work, since what they offered me was care, love and protection when I really needed, when I had no other place to get this attention from. This situation really got me thinking, and I realized that the American people, are really one big family, which is always willing to help each other out. It also made me realize that social work is all about the good of the human race as a whole regardless of race, color or size.

My urge to always try to assist others, and to champion for the rights of those who cannot vulnerable and at risk, has always been the motivation behind me choosing this field of study. The urge to want to help, and the actually act of getting to help are two totally different things. My goals for my future career as a social worker involves commitment to assisting in the provision of resources and opportunities to the vulnerable and at risk population. I also need to understand the cultural diversity in our society, thus be able to apply it in practice as a social worker.  My decision to take social work as a career is a manifestation of my need to help the society as a whole. My goals for a career in social work involve helping the elderly, since I believe that they form a very important part of the society. There is a saying that the younger generation is the future of tomorrow. Well, I usually like saying that there would be no tomorrow if it were not for the elderly. So by extension, we owe the elderly the care and the loving that they gave to us when they were in their prime. It is them that have made today what it is and through helping them in their retirement stage, we get to thank them for their work well done. A graduate education, will give me the extra necessary skills that will give me that professional edge in tackling such issues, in the most effective and precise manner. With this qualification, I will have the license and the motivation to help these people that need to have their social problems addressed.

Some of the attributes that I posses that I believe I can be able to bring into the program include, my ability to recognize abuse signs in children and even in individual adults. I realize that according to your department, you emphasize on cross  cultural policy, and thus I believe that abuse is present in almost all cultures if not all. In the neighborhood that I was brought up in my native country, I have always witnessed people being physically abused, by their spouses. This is specifically in the case of females, and they normally need that care considering that this is a social problem. This has developed my urge to be able to help champion for the rights of such individuals who are unable to fight for their own rights.

Our departments staff at one point wrote a magazine called the CHAMP, and it is about the social agencies that are beneficial to the society, in terms of donations and alumni. I was even interviewed by donors concerning the work, and activities that I perform at Jeanne Darc.

I have been a volunteer tutor at the Catholic Charities, San Jose, teaching English to newly immigrant clients. I also had an opportunity to research within the facility, and also translate for, and educate clients on important issues such as health education and safety. This is similar to the work done by social workers in the sense that, these activities that I did are also incorporated in to the profession. It is also worth noting that I aided in the creation of a fun and jovial learning environment for the clients, and this enabled them to enjoy all the events. I also worked as a facilitator at the YWCA of Silicon Valley, San Jose, where I encouraged, engaged, educated and monitored to promote safe and healthy life choices. I also recruited and maintained volunteers to join the programs and finally held individual and group counseling session. I have also worked in the capacity of  a counselor intern, at the Bill Wilson Center, Santa Clara, San Jose. I coordinated and provided community based substance abuse prevention. I also made sure that the clients who are at risk were counseled as individuals or as groups. Provision of therapeutic intervention services to clients using individual family and group treatment was also part of my duties there. I provided one on one counseling sessions to troubled clients and help them to achieve their goals by helping them to solve their social problems. At the moment I am working as a recreational director at the Arc Manor, San Jose, California. I create, manage and coordinate activities and classes for clients. I have also been ensuring that activities have adequate funding and supplies by keeping the inventory.

As I have mentioned above, I have been working in various places and in various capacities, all associated with social work. When I volunteered at Catholic Charities in San Jose as a tutor, doing research was a challenge considering I wasnt fully qualified to do so and the lack of the know-how was a limiting factor. Provided that I have the necessary skills and education related to that field, I believe that it is a source of inspiration and motivation for me to do more. This was the time that I felt that the lack of professionalism was really a limiting factor.

I consider myself to be self motivated, with the drive to achieve and do more. I am also familiar with fall prevention exercises and the ability to recognize signs of abuse. I am also capable of holding group therapy sessions and strength based therapy. I am also capable of managing due to me superb management skills. Unfortunately, my strengths are also my weakness, since I am very passionate and humble, and this makes me to be unable to be an assertive individual. My lack of assertiveness I believe has limited me from being able to deal with the more stubborn individuals, especially in group therapy for substance abuse individuals. Another weakness that I believe was a limitation to my development as a social worker is the fact that I lack the relevant experience in the aging field. Considering that I would mostly like to work with the elderly, knowledge and experience in this field would be a big boost for my career. Thus an education at your facility would help me get closer to achieving that goal.

Some of the other skills that I hold that I believe are very essential in this field include my bilingual ability. Considering that I am originally from Vietnam, I am able to communicate in English and Vietnamese in a very effective and most comprehensive manner. I am also flexible in meeting with clients at their own convenient time and place, all in the quest to achieve theirs and the agencys goals and objectives. I am also a creative individual and posses impeccable time management skills. Finally, I am well conversant with Windows applications like Microsoft Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint, not to mention but a few.

I have made a comprehensive plan of action to enable me to complete my Master of Social Work course in the normal duration. I plan to achieve this by effectively managing my time, and balancing my day to day activities with my education in the most logical manner. I believe that this program is designed to help the student to be able to advocate for individuals, to be able to keep their cultures and lifestyles and at the same time facilitate for the adoption of new ones. I understand that this course demands a lot of dedication, both financially and in terms of time, but I believe that I am well organized and not only willing, but ready to undertake this course. As I stated earlier, one of my qualities as an individual is my ability to effectively manage time, and plan for my activities to ensure that I have everything in place. My attention to detail is what has got me this far, so far.

Since my time schedule is open and I would further more like to concentrate on my studies, I plan on not doing any part time jobs during my tenure in school, though I will need to apply for grants and loans so as to enable me to afford to pay for my education, and for my personal needs. Apart from applying for the loans and grants, I have also saved up some money, which I believe will assist me with my financial status. I also intend on dedicating four hours of my time every evening, to doing research and homework, in a bid to ensure that the quality of education that I get is fine. I am available for internship every three days of the week, in the morning hours. I also intended on dedicating every weekend to studying to ensure that I succeed in the program. Thus my schedule will be based on your model and I would prefer the morning time for field work, this means that I will be taking the summer block model.

Ethical conflict is present in almost every, if not all professions and social work is not spared either. Personally, at one point, I had a client asking me out for a date, but I would not, considering that this was not the right way to conduct my self, professionally. I went further to explain my sentiments to this particular client, and I believe it helped the client understand the boundaries that exist between the client and the social worker.

There was a boy in a school that I was working in some time back who had a lot of social issues. This was a high school kid who was always getting into fights, and so I decided to schedule a few sessions with him. After a couple of sessions, I came to realize that the reason for his hostility towards other people and segregation, was due to the fact that he felt stigmatized and he was further more trying to put up a masculine image. This was because he was gay. He further told me that his family was a strong Christian one, with their moral and values deeply rooted in Christianity. He also explained to me that it would be bad if his family found out that he was gay, and thus he decided to be more of a fighter to portray the manly image. I also pointed out to him that despite the fact that he was a good fighter, violence was not the solution. I showed him other ways he could use that extra energy to put into good use, and thus I introduced him to the wrestling club, and this was an avenue in which he could vent his anger, and also exploit his talent in fighting. I also encouraged him to join the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer and Trans gender club, and this helped him in feeling connected and realizing that he was not alone in all this. After six months, this particular individual was able to refrain from the unnecessary fights with other student of the school fraternity, and he was also able to be a member and an active one at that, in the Gay club. He championed for the rights of his club and other people like him. Some of the challenges that I met with during this period, included people who were so against the fact that I was ready to assist and support a child who was heading in the wrong direction. Such people believed that everybody should be like them and any other standards were unacceptable. These experiences made me appreciate the fact that America is a free country, and that every one has his  her rights and freedoms, to express and choose what is right for oneself.

At one point, I had a very happy girl student as a client, who was aged eighteen years old. She was a bright student and an achiever, always scoring As in her examinations. She was of Asian decent, and came from an upper middle class family, meaning she never lacked financial support, family care not mentioning attention. One thing caught my eye though, as she was always in a depressed mood. After much talk with her, she opened up to me and told me that she had a lot of self induced pressure, due to the fact that she was jealous of every other person and wondered why she couldnt be happy like everyone else. In other words, she was trying to compare herself to other people. My time however, was limited considering I was on an after school program, and thus I was unable to spend more time with her. I kept my time and sessions with her casual and friendly, with a bid to reach to her as a friend, not only a counselor. I geared towards ensuring that she spends more time with other people, sharing and distinguishing between different types of friendships. All this was in a bid to assist her build her self esteem. I also encouraged her to attend Camp Anytown, which is workshop to help teenagers with raising their self esteem, breaking down stereotypes and building meaningful relationships. This really helped the girl with her self esteem problem, and she was later able to relate more comfortably with other kids her age. These two situations of these two clients reaffirmed my philosophy that different clients require different treatment. I would only feel vulnerable, if I was to be unable to succeed in my pursuit of education and thus I would like the department to assist me in ensuring that I acquire the relevant skills and acumen to enable me tackle problems such as the ones I have mentioned above.

Having a mission with a vision, has cost numerous people numerous opportunities of achieving their goals. Hence I have envisioned myself achieving these educational qualification because nothing would mean more to me than, to be able to gain the academic and professional expertise to be able to help the elderly. An opportunity to study at your facility would be an honor and I am looking forward to working with the relevant departments in the development of social work as a whole.