I was born and raised in Brooklyn, New york. I attended the High school for Service and Learning at Erasmus Hall Campus. I graduated with honors and received an advanced regent’s diploma. I am now attending the New York City College of Technology trying to pursue my master’s degree in Human Services.
I was raised in one of the roughest neighborhoods in Brooklyn. Violence was all that was seen. Struggle was something that was also common especially in my family. My five siblings and I were raised by a single mother. My mother played both roles of mother and father. My mother always wanted her children to have a better life than she had. Watching my mother take on so much responsibility on her own made me want to do everything possible to make sure she was happy.
I decided to become a Human Service worker because living in what they call the projects which is a predominantly African American neighborhood you see a lot of things. There was and still is an epidemic of teen pregnancy, troubled youth, police discrimination, and many other hardships. I would always look at my community and hope for change. So I began to think I should be the one to help my community. Who better to help my community than the one that went through the same struggles as they had? If I succeed with creating a difference not only in my community but, the world that would be the biggest reward that anyone could ever give me. The thing about this profession that I love is when working with client’s counselors put their personal views aside and be objective to try and help their clients to the best of their ability. That is so hard to do because this society is so judgmental. I think the fact that they have the ability to be objective is so commendable.
My personal and professional strengths that will enhance my effectiveness for this profession is the fact that I will be objective toward my clients. Other skills that I possess are that I’m a very trustworthy person and I will show empathy towards my future clients. I will bring my life experiences which will make me able to relate to some of my clients. I will speak to my clients as a human being and not in terms of a counselor. I believe when you talk to your clients as human beings the clients opens up more and begin to feel more comfortable. I would also bring with me my training that makes me qualified to work with clients and help them the best way I know how. When working with my clients I would try to make the client aware that they have strengths and that those strengths set them apart from everyone else.
The client population that I would like to work with is the youth. I would like to work with the youth because they make so many wrong decisions that do not just affect them but everyone else around them. They make these wrong decisions because sometimes they are uneducated, come from horrible backgrounds, or either they just want to fit in with others. The youth are our future generation and if we want them to succeed they need the proper guidance that can help them to become productive members of society. What I think I would learn from working with teenagers is patience, better communication skills, warning signs that a teen is going in a bad direction, and basically just an understanding of teenagers cognitive development.
The strengths that teenagers have are that they are able to interact well within their community and they have good technology skills. The challenges that teenagers face are they have to deal with a lot of peer pressure; they are uneducated about certain topics, some are academically uneducated, bullying, police discrimination and many other challenges. The human service skills that I have begun to develop are being multicultural competent and having knowledge of non-verbal communication. These skills will help me assist my clients because clients come from different backgrounds and being knowledgeable of different cultures will make the helping relationship easier. Having knowledge of non-verbal communication is a good skill to have when working with teenagers because some teenagers find it difficult to express themselves. A counselor can know how a client is feeling with them actually saying anything because body language conveys a message in a counseling session. For example, sitting with your arms or legs crossed can imply guardedness or disengagement.
How I envision my career in ten years would be I would have my own office working in a prevention center trying to educate teens on the danger of doing certain things and the steps you can take to avoid them. I see myself making a difference in my client’s lives by teaching them the how to believe in themselves. My future clients are not only going to learn from me but, I am going to learn from them as well. I hope to learn from my future clients how I can become a better counselor and how to better my professional skills in helping them reach their desired goals. I see myself embodying professionalism inside and outside of the work place. Most of all I see myself loving what I do.
In conclusion, I lived in a rough neighborhood so seeing my community suffer from violence and struggle influenced my decision on becoming a Human Services worker. Living in that environment I saw a lot of teenagers that had potential make so many wrong choices. I feel that if these teenagers get the proper guidance they can become the future leaders of America. Some of the skills that I believe I can bring to the counseling table are my objectivity, active listening skills, and my ability to show empathy towards my clients. The skills that I would like to gain while working with my clients is being able to gain knowledge of the different beliefs that different cultures have. In ten years, I see myself making an impact in teenager’s lives. Not only, do I see myself helping client but helping the community as a whole. I would like to try and teach the community about the importance of helping others instead of just helping yourself. It is important to help others because we all live in one world and what affects one affects us all.
