The world is filled with people who differ in every aspect. Some of these differences are visible, while some differences exist in how a person thinks and feels. These traits shape a person’s personality and also their course of life. Many such people possess the qualities of patience, empathy, and kindness. They perceive the world differently, which makes them opt for such academia and careers where they can fully prosper through these qualities. This perception inhibits them from seeing the injustice and the awful state of some vulnerable groups living in their society. So they wish to work tirelessly to empower people and their community to promote social development, cohesion, and overall well-being.
If you can relate to all this, we would recommend looking into social work as a future career. Social work is a vast field that covers psychology, medicine, social justice, law, mental health, human services, and education. The people who venture into this field are extremely hard working and have a deeper understanding of the pain of vulnerable individuals, families, groups, and communities. They work for not only their own growth and well-being but also that of others.
It is very important to understand that charity work and doing such acts pro-bono is the basics of social work. But as mentioned above, this is an entire field of work that covers many disciplines. Many people opt for this field professionally and study it. Thus, many world-accredited universities now offer social work masters online as well as on-campus. These programs prepare professional social workers as practitioners, scholars, and leaders determined to bring change to society. The ease of acquiring an online master’s degree can be that you can do social work whilst studying. You can complete the coursework at your own pace at your choice of time.
It is very important to understand why studying the field of Social Work reeks more benefit than doing it without prior knowledge. To thrive on empathy is not enough when dealing with people. There are many laws and protocols, so finding a way around them requires a clear understanding. This article describes different reasons why studying Social Work can not only help you empower others but also yourself.
You will get a deeper understanding of yourself
The coursework of Social Work degree puts its students in a variety of situations to make them aware of what they will face once they go out in the real world. The extreme, depressing cases can teach you a lot about yourself. Not only can you learn better about your patience and tolerance levels, but you can also see how emotionally certain situations can affect you. You can also find your strengths and see what specialty suits you the most. Some people might want to help troubled children, while others will opt to work with people suffering from addiction.
You will interact with like-minded people
Once college starts, you will notice how careers are chosen based on interests, strengths, and beliefs. Choosing social work can let you interact with people who have similar beliefs and thought processes as you. They are all motivated to empower their community and bring about a change worldwide. They all enter this field with great zeal and brilliant ideas.
Interacting with like-minded people can boost your morale even higher. You can also plan your futures together, draft plans for making organizations of social work, and in the present, as a group, reach out to the aggrieved and help them.
You can bring a positive change
There is a common saying that even if you can change one person’s life, you have done great service to humanity, as change usually is a chain reaction. Professional social workers work with estranged individuals, families, or groups struggling. If you pursue a degree in social work, you can deal with young children struggling at school; you can work with addicts and listen to their misery, etc. You can guide people effectively on how to cope with their problems and make them see ways they can improve their lives.
When you’d understand this power a social worker has, you can do wonders in this field and help so many turn their lives around. All this can be done effectively and better if you have a clear understanding of the law, how the society runs and what protocols are to be followed to deal with certain types of people.
You will get insight into the bitter reality of life
As discussed above, studying social work can put you in situations you have never seen or imagined before. You see the worst this life has to offer. You see people in miserable states, unable to help themselves. You witness the most upsetting side of humanity, and that is a true eye-opener for you. In life, we all take many things for granted. Such exposure helps in understanding the true value of life and seeing every blessing for what it is.
You will learn many beneficial skills
The biggest outcome of studying social work is interacting with people of all backgrounds. You are trained to look past any visible difference, be it race, religion, ethnicity, education, financial status, or beliefs. You learn to understand the human inside despite all these differences and understand their problems. You deal with aggressive behavior patiently. You listen to understand. You learn empathy, problem-solving, team management, and effective communication.
These skills are not just relevant to this particular field and can benefit you personally and professionally.
Your career will always be in demand
Social work is a vast field and deals with various specialties, for example, child education, child protection, addiction, rural poverty, etc. However, many social workers choose to work as generalists and deal with all kinds of cases.
The fact is that this is a very in-demand profession. According to the recent stats by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the overall employment of social workers is projected to rise by 12% from 2020 to 2030. This is the largest projection predicted for any profession.
Studying social work and opting for a career in it means tremendous opportunities. Similarly, salaries with a degree in social work range from $34,000 to over $110,000 per year. These figures suggest there is a promising future in this career.
Conclusion
Although this field requires immense commitment and nerves of steel, it is perhaps the most rewarding career. The inner satisfaction you can get after helping even a single individual can have a multiplier effect. Statistics show a promising future in this field in terms of job opportunities and salary. However, the biggest win is acquiring the power to bring about a change, empower people and eventually empower society.
Now, if you know what makes one person’s life change, then you know what makes a nation change – because a nation is simply a large group of individuals.
Marianne Williamson