Finances

It's funny getting  up one day and saying "I'm going to be a social worker" seems funny, really funny; yes jokes on us. My professor Doug Harris made a very interesting point in intro to social work a class I took in Yuba college. He said "what can you do with a Masters in social work?" He then answered most likely get a job as the greeter at Walmart. Do we really get in this field to get rich. Is it a social worker that resides at the top of the Fortune 500? In music videos or glamorous movies is it the social worker that pulls up in a Lamborghini and and then they receive all the lamentations of men or women that scurry around their feet. Why did we get social work? Is it because we wanted to make a change? Is it because we wanted to make a change within ourselves? Or how we overcame so much in our own lives and changed so much within our own lives that we want to share this gift with our fellow human beings? Either way we're taking on a great task and either way the riches that we receive come in the form of the social wealth that we create for our clients.

running the gauntlet

This week as been so rough there is so much going on between moving into my new home going to court to establish compentancy for a friend that I was in love with who  is being subject to undue influence. Also dealing with blow back from uncle jacks death and dealing with a depressed family member. Also finances are getting really slim. I think I just might right a country song. I don't think I can handle the 17 units but I'll stick with it maby I won't take so much next semester. I am using all the techniques I know to find my way back to the light. Wish me luck.

I am becoming a robot

Tired tired and lonely lonely did I say lonely tired of being lonely oh my God this is going to be redundant. Well since I've been doing online classes my social life has took a dive. I live in a town of approximately 60 and out of the 60 I have no friends in my town. I find myself sitting in front of the computer most of time which is so not me but I'm learning deal with it. one advantage of living up in the mountains I do have the opportunity to go out side and let my eyes stretch across the horizon and the beautiful timber that I'm surrounded by. So what do I do? I'm building a supercomputer yes a triple monitor 3960 X Intel six core processor dual 690 GTX graphics cards 16 GB of RAM megahertz 1500 W power supply for solid-state drives two of which I'm going to run in raid zero one of the fastest PCs in the world. I feel if I upgrade my system I will upgrade my educational experience this is going to be fun. Oh I've already done that I have a supercomputer in front of me,$10,000 worth of hardware and equipment and apparently still can't get a better grade all the humanity in the world cannot express the type of pain anguish I am going through at this time. Where are my humans? Where my colleague where are my friends. I would just set sail into cyberspace the final frontier the first step of my education and my first step to becoming a cyborg.

 Did I mention I really having hard with online school. I miss talking to the professor, I miss talking to my fellow students. I was active in the student body for over two and a half years, I organized all kinds of wonderful events for my school. From motivational speaking to setting up our Earth Day event. Now I'm staring at a computer screen. Stay diligent people; I will. I'll stick it out to the electrons and photons smash and collide together and deteriorate. Till I am standing here with my bachelors degree.

So here we are month later, it all seems so fast. Think about it Sam only a couple more months to go. I waited so long to get to this point I can't believe I'm here at state university, never thought i make it this far. However, this last month has been the hardest thus far. I've been so overwhelmed by my classes and I'm actually quite frightened, I fear that I'm going to fail even though I have gotten a 4.0 in all my social work classes, I feel like that time is coming to an end. I do so much better in class with students and a professor, I'm not going to let this deter me, I'm not afraid of failing, I am only afraid of failing myself, that only comes from complete lack of action. I will never give up the open mind and that means that I'm able to learn and grow even when I take a step back.  I know I will succeed, I know in the end it's not about concentrating on the negatives but  about concentrating on the positives and those little beacons of light that will guide us toward our destination. I will prevail one way or the other, and this I am certain.

Week Three

I had fun with my first ellumination session with you all this Monday! I had a really rough going this week dealing with uncle Jacks passing on. I also, had to do do some work out of town. However my week started off well. I liked to hear all that instant feed back in the chat room on Monday night and it was calming for me to hear what you all had to say. It makes this whole online process a little more human to me, and that helps out so much. Classes are going good and I am getting more familiar with this virtual class room. I want to thank Paige for working so hard on our group project. I would also like to thank all my fellow students , you have been a big help not only to me, but to the whole online forum for all the great questions, help, and feed back!

Still pushing!

I have to take a step back for a moment and realize how far I have come. I stand at the dawning of a new era, my path is laid out before me and I am starting to feel the gravity of the life that I am coming into. My significant other has had a death in the family this week and it has been rough. I am already under pressure as is, and helping her through this time of need has weighed in on me. She only has one surviving family member left and that is her daughter. I fell behind in my classes this last week (just this blog thing really, the technical difficulties; AAHHH!!!!) so it is so fitting that one of the prompts specifically asked  "How are you going to deal with these things when they come up?" I know this blog is late but I feel that I still need to share my story and journey with you all. I do intend to take an active role in my education as I have already led the student body at the community college that I came from. I do feel that there is a different kind of obstacle that comes with distance learning, face to face human interaction. Also, I miss the lecture of an esteemed professor. I do not know how much I can contribute to this community at this time, but I believe you all are going to contribute to my understanding of this new environment. Until then, I will try and acquire all that I can from these courses and more so from my fellow students, to arm myself for the social battlefield that lies ahead.

Pushing forward

 Was it me that chose social work or did social work choose me? It was during the time of my second incarceration that someone that had taken an interest in me, contacted me. I was sent a catalog when I was in county jail from Yuba College highlighting the human services degree. I met this woman in a bereavement group at hospice in Lake County. Apparently, through our interactions in our group she felt that I had helped her in more ways than the paid facilitators of that group.

         
I always knew that I had the innate ability to allow people to reveal their true selves to me. I always have had a strong empathetic approach in all my relationships. I always seem to find out things about people that no one else did. People would open up to me and trust me with the most intimate  details of their lives. I see why my dear friend of mine felt that I belonged in the social work profession. Through the kind words of her guidance and the true application of my inherent abilities, I enrolled myself at Yuba College in the Spring of 2009. The very first semester I got straight A's in all my human services classes. This is all the proof that I needed to know that I found my new home and calling. During my time at Yuba College I interned at Crestwood which was a locked down facility that housed clients with co-occurring disorders. I found this work to very challenging and I enjoyed it very much. I just got accepted into the B.S.W at Humboldt State, and am working towards being a advocate for people with disabilities.