Throughout my first year at university I realised how rewarding social work is as a career. What can be more rewarding than helping individuals to improve their quality of life and become independent.

I believe social work is a perfect career path for me due to the rewards and challenges it can bring. The most important reward for me as a social worker will be a sense of accomplishment. This is because by solving problems we will leave a positive impact on a service users lives and this will provide us with satisfaction.

However, social work can be a difficult career as it requires individuals who are mentally strong and can deal with challenging situations in a professional manner. Throughout my first year studying social work, I have learnt suitable methods to deal with these challenges. This is because the theories and skills I learnt can be applied to practice to help improve the support I provide to service user. The key attributes of a social worker will be honesty and reliability and I believe I have these attributes making me a suitable candidate to become a social worker.

Have you ever thought you could go into a flat within university? Neither did I.

Our skill days involved going into artificial flats created for students. The flats were very realistic and the experience I gained was phenomenal.

In groups we worked on a case study and gave each other roles. We made sure each person got the experience of being a social worker. Within our group we created a script and plan for our performance. However, once we stepped into that flat we realised how we can not follow plans. This is because an individual may say something unexpected, which leads to other questions and topics being raised.

This experience was an amazing opportunity for me to gain 1st hand experience and skills that can not be learnt through teaching or reading. Additionally, it helped me learn and be prepared for a real life situation as I am aware of the approach I would need to take in that environment. For example, if I am going into a family where there is a young carer, I would look at the history of the family and research local services to ensure I can provide some support and information to the family.

The importance of not giving service users promises or false information is extremely important in practice. If there is a situation, where you are unsure of an answer, always tell the service user you will try and find out for them, instead of giving incorrect information.

All the skills and knowledge I gained can be applied to practice on placement. I believe these skills and knowledge have given me a head start, as I feel mentally prepared for the possible circumstances I could be facing on placement.

At this event we were working within a group. There were individuals from different professional backgrounds working on a case study about Steven. We worked as a group and shared our own perspective about the different care that was required by Steven and his family members.

This event allowed me to gain my first experience of multi agency working. It was an opportunity to learn effective methods to communicate with professionals from different backgrounds and explore intervention that are available from other services.

The cases study mentioned Steven having dark circles, I would interpretate that as the child being tired and not having enough sleep. However, the nutritionist believed the dark circles suggested that he has a nutrient deficiency. Similarly, with the child losing weight we as social workers would think that the child may be neglected. On the other hand, the physiotherapist suggested that an individual with cystic fibrosis would have to have a high calorie intake.

By working with other professionals we got to explore different intervention and perspectives and it allowed us all to share our knowledge and come to an efficient outcome.

Care Home Kid is a documentary about Neil, a 10 year old boy, who went into care. Neil spoke to other service users about their experiences and reflected back to his time in care.

Neil had access to his case files, which summarised his time in care. We get to know about the notes that were written by social workers about the different situations and meetings. Neil was devastated by some of the terminology used in his case files. One thing I believe I will always remember as a social worker is to write about others, how I would like others to write about me. I aim to apply this to every case record I write to ensure service users feel empowered and supported.

Additionally, there was a young girl called Emma, who had 17 different placements. I can only imagine how devastating it would be for a young child to be moved from one place to another. This led to her being unable to make strong relationships with others. She mentioned feeling “unwanted and rejected” as none of her placements supported her or loved her like their own children.

Neil was looking for a foster parent so he could continue to study and pursue his career. He mentioned making adverts for newspapers. The pain Neil would have gone through is unimaginable as I can never imagine asking for parents.

At the end of the documentary we get to see Neil with all the people he had a strong bond with. A special moment that touch my heart, was when Neil’s friends mentioned him as being family and the glue of their friendship. This showed that despite his negative childhood with his family he was still able to make his own family with his friends, which is simply wonderful.

The first term in university was successful. Within the term, I got to explore many important features of a social worker. The impact we can have as future social workers on others has made my passion towards this career stronger. I aim to learn more attributes of a social worker, so that I can become a perfect social worker for every service user.

Excited is an understatement to describe the enthusiasm I have for the future.