Karre Brutus/HUS 1207/Professor Hall/ Professional Essay
I am an aspiring Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I was born in Guyana, which is known as the land of many waters, and is located in the Caribbean. After graduating high school at the age of sixteen, I decided to attend another high school to complete a few additional subjects, which I mastered at the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC). At the age of seventeen after I graduated from the second high school, I migrated to the United States to join my mother. I now reside in Brooklyn New York and is currently attending New York City College of Technology. My two high school diplomas were not recognized in the USA and I never obtained a GED, but I was still accepted into college and was placed in Liberal Arts and Science instead of my preferred majors nursing or radiologic technology. After the first semester I became very confused and indecisive about what career path I wanted in life, so I was always changing majors until decided to obtain my associates degree in Liberal Arts and Science. After soul searching and researching I decided to continue my studies in the human services major because I wanted to become a LCSW.
Helping others who are less fortunate or who are in need of any kind of assistance is something that I have most pleasure doing. The responsibility of a LCSW varies from providing counseling, advocating and therapy. The reason I decided to become a human services working is not only to help others but also because I have a strong desire to make a difference in society. What influenced me the most to work in this field is the joy of knowing that by advocating or counseling I can help to promote a quality of life of an individual or a community.
Being a human services worker requires patience and understands, and that’s what I’m all about. I am a Christian, but my father and his family are Muslims, so I have an understanding of both cultures and religious believes so I do not cast judgments on others that are of other religions. Having an exposure to both religions helps me to be more open-minded. I also work as a rehabilitation counselor at AHRC, a company that provides services to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; because of my job experience I have an idea of what to expect when working in the field. So far the cases I work with the individuals all have autism and a mild case of retardation so it influenced me research about their disability so I can provide more effective services and it helped me learn more about the disability and how it affects an individual and their family and also the services available to these individuals.
When choosing a career path, it is wise to know what population you want to serve, but I am honestly not sure about what population I would like to work with. Since I am uncertain I think it is best to start working in a diverse population to see which one I’m most comfortable with and is intriguing to me. While there are many challenges working with a diverse population, there are also strengths that help to maintain the group such as pooling diverse experiences together during group counseling. In order to serve a diverse population, one must be able to provide services without discriminating or having preference over one population based on age, ethnicity, socio-economic status, race, gender, religion or sexual orientation. Workers need to be tolerant of each client and do not be judgmental. The needs of a diverse population varies from not having enough mental health facilities in a community, not adequate services provided or decreasing homelessness or programs to cause awareness of teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease. One important skill I learned in the human services field is not to sympathize with the individuals, but instead to show empathy. Also I learned to be more respectful, appreciative and understanding the varying characteristics of individuals because it is my responsibility as a human services worker and everyone has a right to have their own personality. To serve a diverse population, I would have to be open minded and have to get some kind of knowledge about different cultures and people so I can have an idea of what intervention skills and techniques to use in problem solving.
After graduating with my bachelor’s degree in 2015, I have intentions of continuing in the masters program in social work and also writing the state board exam to become a license clinical social worker. Within ten years of graduating, I see myself working in a hospital as a professional licenses clinical social worker and also having my own office that provides services to individuals in the mental health population and children, teens and there families. My most important goal since I was younger is to open a well develop daycare center that caters to a diverse and multicultural population. Many times teen mothers have to drop out of school or are jobless because there is no one to take care of the children, so one function of the daycare center is to work directly with these teen and provides affordable daycare for their children so they can have an opportunity to go back to school and be able to support themselves also.
In conclusion, the human services career is best for me because in a way it represents who I am and what I’m about. Helping others and providing services to individuals to promote a quality of life for them is fulfilling. When working with a diverse setting it is sometimes difficult but learning about different cultures and people helps us to be open minded and not discriminate or judge others because it can affect the individuals in a negative way. My set goal is to become a license social worker because I want to make a change in society and because it helps me be a better person.
