1. My life experiences just happened to lead me to social work by chance; I believe it was meant to happen, however. After I got my GED when I was 18, I was left with the question: what now? Do I decide to try college, or go to work? My mother tried to go to college at Ball State, but she barely finished a year before she decided it wasn’t for her. My father only did brief certification classes and/or tests; this was so he could get a better job or higher pay. Conventional college was not for him, in his words. I wasn’t sure if college was right for me because of my parents’ experiences. I was back to the “what do I want to be when I grow up?” thoughts, with no resolution in sight. My mom always had this cliché saying when I was younger: leave people better than you found them. I …show more content…
I did some research to change my major to something involving what I did at the YOC. I found out about social work. I hadn’t really understood what social work/human service workers did until I started this research. I had been in counseling briefly as a teen. Being an angsty teen is hard; it also made it harder to learn I had an anxiety disorder. I changed my major to human services for that fall following working at the YOC. I have thoroughly enjoyed every human service class I’ve taken. I learned so much from my two internships. I love my job now working at a dual-diagnosis substance abuse treatment center. Working in the human services field is so rewarding some days. Even if you only make a difference for one day for one person, it is so worth the hard days you may face. It’s challenging in a unique way. I have learned so much about myself and other people. I have learned I have an extreme talent at empathy. I have refined my people skills in ways I never thought possible. Finally, it has taught me the true value of life. I have found a purpose in life: helping people and leaving them better than I found