I often get asked what drew me to Social Work and early on in my career, I truly didn’t have a good response to the question.  I spent time thinking about what it was that drew me to the field.  Then I remembered.  There was a time in high school where I came across a family that had just moved to Pennsylvania from Puerto Rico.  They came to Pennsylvania with close to nothing and I took it upon myself to help them with resources.  

I remembered the gratefulness, the pure gratitude that the family showed for my willingness to help without expecting anything in return.  I remember just thinking about how stressful it must have been to leave behind an entire life in Puerto Rico, to move to Pennsylvania and not have a single clue as to where to begin to start their lives over.

Now when I first went to college in 2006, I started with a major in Psychology though overtime, I changed it to Sociology. At the time I did not know a whole lot about the difference or that Social Work was a completely different degree but I was happy with what I had chosen.

I truly believe that the reason I chose the Social Work field is for a few different reasons:

1. It’s broad and allows for the opportunity to work with any population in a variety of settings.
2. There is a ton of opportunity for advancement in the sense that, you can go beyond your Bachelor’s Degree and get your Masters, become licensed, do clinical supervision and become clinically licensed OR head for your Doctorate in Social Work.
3. I am an empath and LOVE working with and helping others. This field is perfect for me in that it allows me to do that in so many ways, each and every day.

So whether you are contemplating Social Work as your career or are already knee deep in the trenches and questioning your life choices, I hope this is helpful to ground you and remind you why Social Work is amazing.

Till next time,

Jehlisah