COURSE ID COURSE NAME COMPETENCIES
HEA 3502 Drugs and Personal Health The basis of this course was to learn how certain drugs (over the counter, prescribed, and illegal) affect the body and can alter a person’s behavior. I gained insight on addiction: “How” easy it is to become addicted and “How” difficult it is to overcome addiction. This course is what helped me to decide that working with substance abusers was the population of my choosing. At the close of this course, I learned how to be more sympathetic to substance abusers and non-judgmental. I also learned that no one “intentionally” chooses to become an addict, it’s just something that unfortunately happens and it’s a battle to overcome this disease.

 
HUS 3608 HS Practice with

Vulnerable Populations

 Vulnerable Populations helped me gain insight on various populations and the struggles they face everyday. I learned about the struggles children face with abusive parents, struggles immigrants face with regard to employment and housing, struggles substance abusers face to overcome their addictions, and so on. It was in this course that for the first time I was asked to really think about a “vulnerable population” in which I would like to work with. I realized if I could help one person overcome their addiction or help save one substance abuser from going to jail due to this “disease”, then I could say I have become an effective human service professional. Another thing I took from this course is the realization that there are various populations that are just as vulnerable as substance abusers and all populations are closely related to one another. I may come across a mother of 3 who migrated from Dominican Republic and was evicted a few months ago. She may have turned to drugs as an outlet, to feel numb and not have to deal with her everyday struggles and she may also be pending possible imprisonment for being in possession of crack-cocaine. So even if my preference is to work with substance abusers and incarcerated individuals, as a human service professional, I would eventually work with all populations.

 
HUS 2307 Community Organizing and Development In Community Organization, I learned the importance of becoming involved within my community to help make a difference. My term project was based on a vulnerable population with limited resources within our community that is in need of assistance. My group decided to do our project on formerly released inmates, as one of my group-mates was formerly incarcerated and my boyfriend was incarcerated at that time. Both of our experiences helped shed light on this topic and enabled us to create an organization that would be beneficial to this population. That project and the positive effect it had on not only the professor, but on the class as a whole, is what helped me decide to work with inmates that suffer from substance abuse.

 
PHIL 2203 Health Care Ethics As Human Service professionals, we must always uphold the standards listed in the Human Service Code of Ethics. This course described the “ethical” standards one must abide by in the health field. I learned about medical terminology, patients’ rights, and about sensitive topics in which important decisions are to be made. Furthermore, we learned about living wills, powers of attorney documentation, determining the best fit person to appoint as a healthcare proxy, and “why” and “how” all these forms are necessary, especially when children are involved. This class taught me a lot, and most of what I learned gave me the knowledge I needed when I was faced with a very important and serious medical emergency.

 

 

 
PSY 2402 Psychology of Personality This course offered me the knowledge I needed to analyze and work with individuals with various personalities. I learned “why” some individuals are the way they are throughout adulthood, stemming from childhood occurrences. I learned about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and about defense mechanisms. This class will come in handy when working with client’s who are not very talkative, as I can tell a lot by observing someone’s actions.