Blog 2: Topic Choice

a. What is your topic & why?

• My topic is clinical social work (LCSW) & I chose this because I feel like I would have an advantage in the field in the future if I allow myself to get my feet wet now. I'm positive that I want to pursue clinical social work as my career & what better opportunity would I have to learn more about it than to have it as my senior project topic? I also feel like if I have more of a background in working in the social work environment, it would possibly look better on my resume. Most of all, I want to do what I can to help people as soon as I can. I really want to be involved in this field & I really don't want to wait until my junior year of college to really do so. I get the most satisfaction from knowing that I helped another individual deal with a hard time in their life. I really hope I can experience this feeling as much as I can throughout the year through my work.

b. What do you hope to accomplish this year with this topic?

• As an iPoly citizen, I hope to become the open minded & understanding person that people are comfortable confiding in. Although my experience at iPoly is minimal, I did learn how to be more open minded to other people's ideas through the projects I participated in. I can't successfully help people with their obstacles if I don't allow myself to understand their reasoning & background. I can't understand things like that without keeping an open mind to ideals other than my own. 
• As an effective communicator, I hope to make more people realize that they never alone in any dilemma. Too many people in the world believe that they have no one & that no one understands how they feel. I want to be the person who proves to them that no one is ever alone & that someone is always willing to listen. I hope to prove that through lending my listening ear, being a shoulder to lean on, being a the hand to guide someone to something better & so much more. But of course, I can never allow myself to forget that I am also a growing person who has my moments of feeling alone. By remembering this, I can hope that I can display that mutual feeling of loneliness & I can hope that I can allow myself to have a stronger connection with my patient. 
• As an effective learner, I hope to apply what I learn from other's experiences to my own life. They say that one of the best ways to learn is to observe. I feel that I will truly learn something new every day, such what I should cherish more after hearing from someone else's misfortune. I also feel like I will grow more & more as a person along with my patient. 
• As an effective user of technology, I hope to be up to date with current issues, trends, etc. I feel that if I know what's currently going on in the world, I can be a more effective social worker. I can give advice & guidance that would be more applicable to whatever is going on at that moment in society. You wouldn't want to give your patient advice that would applicable to society's standards in the 1970's when you live in the 2010's.