Youth And Community Work Access Course example essay topic

in ing Access / Foundation My reasons for wanting to study for a qualification in social work have built up over many years of lost schooling, menial jobs and raising children, over which time I have learned a little about everything and a lot about nothing. My sense of self has been lost amongst nappy changing and school runs, I have also become more and more frustrated in the fact that how ever much life experience you have, potential employers are not interested in what you can bring personally to that job, only the amount of qualifications you have, or in my case, the amount that I haven't got, which has made me determined to gain the qualifications that I need to succeed in a job of my own choice. The second part will go on to discuss the reasons for wanting to become a social worker and how the access course will help me. I left school with very few qualifications, I blame the school that I went to for not picking up on the obvious problems that I had, I couldn't read or write properly and was obviously showing signs of having some form of learning disability, but as I was classed as being bright, the blame was put on me, I wasn't trying hard enough, even though teachers had mentioned Dyslexia to my parents on more than one occasion nothing was ever done to help me!

At the age of 15 I left school semi illiterate with very little confidence in myself. I had various mundane jobs after leaving school, but eventually trained and qualified as a beauty therapist. By the age of 23 I had a major illness, this put pay to the job that I had had for almost two years in a florist shop, and also my Beauty therapy that I was still doing as a side line, which I loved very much. I was ill for the next five years and unable to work, and spent a considerable amount of time in and out of hospital, while the majority of my friends were working their way up in good jobs, starting their families or going to University / College.

I had had two more children by the time I had reached 30 and was working in a nursing home, which was satisfying in itself as I love being around people, I am a very good listener and people find me easy to confide in, but I knew that I didn't want to just be limited to working with old age pensioners. I have also had a lot of contact with social workers through a very good friend, and seen first hand the good work that they do, so after much thought I felt that Social work or community work would be the profession that I would most like to be in. I knew that I would have to gain a lot of qualifications to become a social worker but had no idea where to start. In 2002 I started a G.C.S. E psychology course at a local education centre, also a friend of mine had just started an Access / Foundation course and was finding it very enjoyable and asked me if I would like her to send for a prospectus for me, I had never even thought of University before, but after looking at the prospectus and looking at the UWCN website I felt that the problems that I had had in school could be helped by doing an Access course myself. I have always wanted to do some kind of work in the community as a Social worker or Community worker, and found that there were pathways on the Access course that would help me to gain the experience and qualifications that I would need to go on to do a Degree in Social work. The youth and Community work Access course offers the chance to gain knowledge and credits in Social Sociology, Psychology, Political Economy, Youth and Community Policy, Social Welfare Policy, Math, I. T and Study Skills all of which I am very interested in and so far enjoying very much.

I feel that I will benefit a lot from the Study Skills, as I need to learn more about grammar, spelling and ways in which to manage my time effectively as I have three children at home. The UWCN has also given me the chance to have a Dyslexia assessment on the 28th October, which I would never have had the chance of had I not been given the chance to study at Caerleon campus. I feel that this assessment will also change my life for the better, as it will help me to identify my strong point and show me ways to improve my week points. I also feel that meeting like-minded mature people, who are passionate about our community and the people who live in it, will be beneficial for all of us as we are all aiming for the same goal, to become community workers in one form or another, therefore we can all lean on each other for support during this next year and hopefully through a degree, and beyond. Finally, on reflection I never thought that at the age of 35 I would be embarking on a life changing experience like this, and after my bad experience with school, dead end jobs and raising a family, I feel that I am now beginning a new faze in my life, one that will bring a better future for my family. The access course that I'm on, is giving me an opportunity of a lifetime; I can now study towards gaining the qualifications that I will need to become a social worker, and enable me in the future, to help people less fortunate than myself.