Diderot

I have come to a point in life that many people have not. I have made a firm decision to recommit myself to pursuing my dreams. While there are those who believe that with an ounce of luck and a ton of persistence anything can be accomplished, I believe that there is no reason to expend so much energy and rely on luck. I believe in taking hold of my destiny and carving out a future for myself based on the decisions that I make in life. Life is simply too short and too precious to be left to luck alone.I have many very special characteristics that make this profession one that I will not only excel at, but one that I know will provide me with great opportunity to meet and treat my community. Although an excellent student, my ability to listen to people has helped me to excel both professionally and personally. Too often people are misdiagnosed, misheard and not heard at all because of the time constraints forced on the profession by the high number of patients and insurance constraint s.This was not always a characteristic I would consider my strongest, but after realizing the importance of listening to people I decided to change my own behavior, and even change my small part of the world. The ability to hear people, to really listen, has transformed my life in a positive and crucial way. This experience of working with those who are less fortunate in life has opened my eyes to the possibilities of pursuing a career that revolves around helping others. I realize that there is a lot that I am grateful for in life and that there is also so much that I can give to others.By devoting my life to the service of others I am confident that I too can benefit by having the opportunity to learn more about myself and others. Growing up we lived in a middle income neighborhood, at best, and I was very fortunate to be surrounded with not only many cultures, but many income levels. My friends were as diverse as the neighborhood we lived in, a melting pot. I learned early on not to pass judgments on people based on their wealth, lack of it, color, religious background or anything that may make my friends different from me.Some of my best memories are of all of sharing what we did on the holidays. I was grateful for such loyal friends and will never forget how they helped me become the adult I am today. These, I believe, are the main characteristics that one needs to possess for social work practice. While I may not have the qualifications as others, I am confident that my determination to succeed in the pursuit of a career in social work will help me in the future. From the point of view of personal growth, I must admit that there is so much for me to gain from doing voluntary service at the elderly home.One important aspect of personal growth is the understanding and the lessons that I can learn from the elderly. The youth, such as me, must learn how to acknowledge the achievements of the older generation and respect their experience. The older generation has a hard time teaching the youth how to avoid the same mistakes that they made when they were young because all they see is wasted and reckless youth but I see that my exposure at a home for the elderly will give me the unique opportunity to learn from them and perhaps avoid the same mistakes.I have found that my experiences with the older generation have inspired in me the joys of learning. As previously mentioned, there is so much that I can learn from them and so much knowledge and wisdom that they can impart. As such, this also creates a certain excitement for me for I know that as I grow as a person there lies so much for me in the world. Unique opportunities that are available to those who are prepared and ready to make a contribution to the world. Pursuing my career in this course is just the first step in my plan. My main philosophy in life is to lead by setting an example.I cannot expect others to do what I myself would be willing to do but that does not mean that I cann ot hope that others will see the example that I have shown them. This philosophy is one of the many forces that drive me to pursue my dream of pursuing this career and of becoming so much more in life. The chance to help those who are less fortunate in life, the chance to help those in need, the opportunity to be of service to humanity; these are the reasons why I have selected this as the profession that I will pursue; for, as Eleanor Roosevelt once said, â€Å"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams†¦Ã¢â‚¬ 