Journal #1: Social Work & the Benefits of Taking SLWK 230

       At the beginning of my spring semester, of my sophomore year, I finally declared my major from undeclared to Social Work. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders.  I’m the type of person who likes things planned out; whether its two days or a year from now, I like to have a general picture of what I’ll be doing.  I choose this career path because I had interactions with social workers throughout my childhood due to issues within my family.  The social workers helped change the environment I was in, making me feel safer.  I want to be able to do that for someone in the future.  I want to be able to provide them with resources to make their daily lives better; to find a child a warm, loving home; to provide counseling for abuse victims.  We all need help at some point in our lives; we can feel like there is no way to overcome that obstacle in our path.  I want to be someone people can turn to during hard times, to help them to the best of my abilities.  

       After I get my BSW I plan to go for my Master’s in Social Work as well.  At this point I’m not exactly sure what I want to concentrate it.  I’ve been looking into health care/medical and child welfare careers, as well as advocacy programs to improve lives of the lower class and oppressed groups.  I’m sure as I go through the program here at VCU I will get a better understanding of the career options out there and find one that I feel fits.  

       This class will help no matter what someone’s chosen career path is.  Good communication is key in life, I’d go as far to say its the most important skill we need.  We communicate all the time, both conscious and unconsciously.  We communicate through body language, how we dress, speak, write, the list is quite long.  With social work, we are communicating with and for our clients constantly; advocating, providing/finding services, counseling, etc.  Hopefully this course will guide me to become proficient in communication, therefore benefiting my client.  

       It is essential to learn how to successfully communicate so that details are not lost in translation.  One of the biggest problems today with communication is when people assume that others understand their signs, how they uniquely communicate.  This might be understood by close friends and family but when interacting with individuals from different cultures and backgrounds you cannot do that; the receiver of the message might misinterpret what was relayed through the message.  

       Through this class I hope to adjust how I communicate to ensure the above does not happen when working with my clients.  With the communication skills I will learn in this class I will have, in my opinion, the base need for successful social work, good communication, and be able to effectively assist my clients’ needs.