I wanted to be a Social Worker over 5 years ago. I had an interview and didn’t get in. I didn’t give up though, I just got jaded. Moving from Private to Public sector employment, I still kept my hand in with the world of Social Workers, but the posts I took entailed me seeing the dark side of social work. Dealing with complaints about social workers for a living made me think, why would anybody want to do that? I told myself that Social Work was not for me.

But for the past year, the urge to be a social worker has been unfurling in me again. I realised that yes, you get abuse and mistakes can happen, and the media will always hate you, but what about the social workers who do get it right, the ones that make a differnce to peoples lives. The ones we don’t hear about? I too want to be one of those people.

I have heard a theory that many people go into Social Work to heal their own problems, however I can honeslty say that I dont have any issues to air through Social Work. I just want to make a difference to peoples lives.

The one thing my job has taught me, is that helping people makes me feel happy. It makes me feel like I am least contributing something to the world, and not just taking. I love the contact with people, and a recent visit I made to an elderly gentleman, made me realise with more clarity then ever that this was what I wanted to do. I didn’t particulary impart any pearls of wisdom on the gentleman, but I was able to have a glimpse into his life and find out what could be done to improve it for him, by understanding a bit more about him and his desires.

I have one more year on my social policy degree. I have been philosophical about why I didn’t convert at the start of my second year, but I think I needed to come full circle to understand why I want to be a Social worker. My degree gives me an understanding of policy which will enrich my work as a social worker.

I am going travelling, and I will probably have a baby before I do my masters, but now I know what I want to do, and it’s here on this list to remind me, then it does not matter whether I qualify in 3 years or 10 years time.