>> A lot of what drew me to social work was actually taking my first sociology class
at [inaudible].
I took a death and dying class and I knew right then that I wanted to help people
who were going through and coping with a loss.
And from then on, and I think a lot of people go into social work really wanting to help.
They really want to help people.
And it's not a rewarding job monetarily, and it can often seem not rewarding
on a daily basis depending on what area you go into.
Whether that be voluntary, you know, you have clients volunteering to come to you
versus they're court ordered to come to you.
That makes a big difference.
But I think that the idea of helping people really drives a good social worker.
And to know your limits.
To know when you're burnt out and when you're no longer being of service to them.
And then of course just being able to separate the work from your home life.
The lack of recognition, the lack of thank you or you saved me,
now mind you when you do get that it makes it worth it.
But you can see that, you know, sometimes you seem like the bad guy, like a lot of people
with their ideas of DEFAT, the first thing they think
of is social workers take kids away from parents.
There, the last thing a social worker wants to do is take the kid away from the, you know,
from the parents, the caretakers.
So ultimately, yeah, they do look like the bad guy but they are doing the best work.
And a lot of times social workers do get that reputation kind of in that they're, you know,
they're not trying to help and they are trying to help.
And so that can be unfulfilling.
But, like I said, when you get that situation which somebody comes back and says you know,
you changed their life or because of you, you've, you know, helped my marriage,
or because of you I'm moving forward with my life after the death of my spouse.
That in itself is rewarding and enough to go into this field.
But it's very humbling and it is, it's very challenging
to separate your professional boundaries and your personal boundaries.