As a child growing up, I had my heart set on becoming a teacher.

I was
certain that I was going to teach elementary school children and eventually,
become a principal. As I continued on through school and life in general, a few
changes took place in my family. In 2002, my mother was diagnosed with a rare
autoimmune disease called Wageners. Without much knowledge of the diagnosis,
my family and I searched to find answers for a plethora of questions pertaining to
the disease and its prognosis. This lifes trial caused strain mentally, physically,
and emotionally for our family in an unprecedented fashion. It was during that time
that I had my first encounter with a social worker. In the midst of uncertainty and
unrest, the care and concern the social worker expressed to my family, helped us
make it through that difficult time. It was then when I decided that I wanted to be a
beacon of light to someone else who may be facing hardships and difficult
moments in their lives. The work of the hospital social worker left an indelible
impression on my life that positively affected me and compelled me to become a
social worker.
Before that experience, I was unaware of how much social work had to offer
in terms of career choices. Upon further exposure to the field, I discovered the vast
areas of career opportunities and decided that I wanted to work with families. As
an undergraduate student, I was undecided as to what I wanted to focus on
specifically and was also uncertain if I wanted to continue on to graduate school.

Being a wife, a stay-at-home mother, and non-tradition student, receiving a
Bachelors Degree was a dream deferred that began to come into fruition. The
semesters continued and senior year finally arrived. Field placement was
approaching for me as a BSW WOW student. Unsure of what direction I wanted to
proceed in, one of my areas of interest for placement was in a school. I reflected
back on my initial career choice of teaching and discovered that being in a school
setting would allow me help young people and their families. The experience I
have gained during field education, motivated me to pursue a graduate degree that
will enable me to become a school social worker. I also have an interest in
gerontology and I plan to obtain a certificate in that area of concentration. During
field placement at the undergraduate level, I have had the privilege of managing a
caseload of ten students ranging from cognitive impairment, Autism Spectrum
Disorder, learning disabled, and ADHD. As a BSW student, learning about client
systems and understanding how to be resourceful to a diversified population,
prepared me for field placement.
Being placed in a high school that has over 200 students who have special
needs from various backgrounds and races, changed my life for the better. Taking
courses such as Diversity and Oppression in Social Justice and Ethics, prepared me
for the population of students that I service and interact with. With a full
understanding that students and people in general may not have the same values,

lifestyles, or beliefs that I have, I am able to differentiate between what I feel and
what my convictions are and what my clients beliefs and convictions may be.
Understanding the code of ethics assists me in being able to service people from all
walks of life. It also brings to the forefront the ultimate reason for doing this work
and that is that there is a need that must be met and I am the person to assist them
in meeting that need. In doing this, I welcomed the assistance and feedback and
critics from my field instructor. It is also important to be self-critical so that I can
me sure that I am providing the best service to clients. Reflecting on how I interact
with clients and asking myself if I helped the clients situations, served as a useful
tool to ensure that clients needs are met to the best of my ability.
I have discovered through field placement experience, that there are parents
who need resources such as food and assistance with rental payments.
Consequently, their children who are in school worry about how they are going to
eat and where they are going to live. Although I am there to help their child in
school, the family dynamics are important to the childs success inside and outside
of school. Therefore, the client system I serviced was families. I assisted in
providing food baskets for families from Gleaners Food Bank and also
coordinated the mobile dentist to service our students who, for some, had not been
to the dentist for quite some time. In essence, social work in encapsulated to some
degree in what was described above. Servicing the needs of others who may be

disenfranchised or have fallen on hard times and who are in need of someone who
can be an inspiration of hope, can be done by providing the tools needed in order
for them provide for themselves and their families.
Since January 2013, the beginning of the BSW WOW! Program until now,
its completion, I have gained the necessary tools provided to me from the
challenging but equipping courses offered by Wayne State University. The
learning experience I have had during the completion of undergrad has been a long
awaited dream come true. I am proud to be an example to my children and proud to
show them that hard work pays off and persistence and dedication has its rewards.