Got v. positive feedback for my placement case analysis report! Good chance of seeing a good grade for my field placement. Emailed my FT and sup to share with them. I couldn't contain my joy.

Anyway, I realised I can't stand people who talk nonsense. Not in the sense of being lame. But I have low tolerance who try to talk about academic stuff but somehow always seem to miss the point and end up sounding like fluff. Oh well, but we all start somewhere. And ya, it's not like I know everything. But I think, if we want people to recognise social work as a profession, we gotta be more exacting in what we say or do. It's something I feel strongly about. I don't think we should just have a good heart. It's equally important to have a thinking mind. Anyhow, I'm really thankful to have met some others who share the same passion as I do and with whom I can discuss and just reflect on issues.

I guess Society for Social Work Students came off to a good start - got certain lecturers commending us on our effort and proactiveness. I want to be a better communicator! How huh. Let's see where this goes.

Attended a dialogue session with some community leaders just now - Dr Maliki, Mr Teo Ser Luck and Dr Vasoo.. There was much debate about how Singaporeans are not stepping out to be more proactive in solving community problems. It's a great pity we didn't have more time to focus on issues around how the government is/is not supporting THE COMMUNITY WORKER.

It's late.. gotta be doing my transcribing and coding.

"It's often in the world, in the secular that we find God's purpose for our lives." -Kong Hee

"I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted and justice for the poor." - King David.

You know, ever since I decided to major in Social Work, I got more and more enchanted with it each day. The intricacies needed in working with people, navigating in the political context we live in etc. It's challenging but I love it. And I always feel like I am called to be a Social Worker (when I was once wavering over whether I should major in SW, one lecturer shared that being a social worker takes a calling), like it's what I'm made for. I'm very, very thankful to God for that.

Recently, I was talking to a senior. I was reminded of the core competencies of a Social Worker:
#1. Promote social justice
#2. Mobilize resources for people in need
#3. Network

So it definitely struck a chord in me when Pst shared about Moses who has a thing for social justice. Yep, I NEVER want to be a mediocre social work student, andI don't want be a mediocre social worker when I enter the field.

Dr. Sim once said something like.. "If as a social worker, you're not going to be a revolutionary, I don't know what you're going to be."

I want to be an outstanding social worker. One who can navigate successfully to mobilize resources for clients and promote social justice. I would also like to see more published research done in the local context.

Up and coming!
Watch out for the research article that Bec and I are going to embark on next year! Here we come! Destiny begins now!

Heheh, Christine said "I can imagine you speaking at some conference." That's nice. We'll see what the future holds. ;)

With all due respect to my tutor's expertise and experience in the area of counselling, I really left the first tutorial feeling uninspired.

Discussed things I already knew. I don't need to know that SWers and clients have potentially different world views and beliefs. I need to know how to work around this issue so that I can still be an effective counsellor.

Said that social workers are not ambitious. HELLO? Even if that was a half-joking remark made in jest, it was uncalled for. Just because a social worker doesn't want to be in management level doesn't mean he/she is unambitious.

I laughed when tutor said that in class. But I got pissed thinking about it. Why did it take me so many days to process this and come to the conclusion that the first tutorial was a little waste of my time. Darn. I better get rid of this initial prejudice and cut some slack.

I AM GOING TO BE THE BEST SOCIAL WORKER I CAN BE!

I don't have to be the best relative to all the rest, but I have to be true to what I believe in.

I want to be the social worker who's not afraid to challenge status quo when necessary.
I want to be knowledgeable in my work so that I can offer a better service to my clients.
I want to be far from mediocre.
I want to be a thinking worker.. a worker with a cool head and a warm heart.
I want to contribute in the area of research.
I would like to begin working in an FSC.

This means I need to be reading up and take my modules seriously.

I'm going to hold on to this dream.. a dream that contains other dreams.
I am not going to leave the field the same.
I want to be far from mediocre.

Last day! (Heh I'm nv the type to cry on the last day)

Woohoo! Last day! Feels like a long-short journey. No la, actually it's a very short one. 10 weeks for a beginner like me is pretty nice.

One big slap in the face is when I learnt I'm bound by context (experiencing it is different from knowing it). Bound by political context and agency policy. Hmm.. what do social workers do when clients fall through the service gaps?

I also learnt I need to be a thinking worker. A very reflective one. Easier said than done. Heh, that's why people like FT are an asset to the profession.

Oh well, it's the holidays now! And I'm happy to be involved in the research project that the department is conducting. It's another aspect of social work that I get to experience.

It's another beginning - now I can go back to lectures and tutorials armed with some glimpses of what the field looks and feels like.

Yes, I'll develop more survival instinct along the way. And hopefully not be conditioned to think passively.

What worked:
- knowing theories at your fingertips which I haven't mastered yet
- staying with the client
- empathic listening
- talking about roles
- reflecting feelings
- PADI
- systems perspective
- quality supervision
- 1:1 ratio of student to supervisor
- field seminars
- having a group of friends whom I could discuss social work with

Field Seminar #4

Today's seminar is the last.

What we discussed...
Talked about closure with regard to clients, colleagues, agency and self.

Clients... do we greet them on the streets if we see them in future?

Colleagues... do we keep in touch? Networking purpose? Future job opportunities? But what if they know too much of out shortcomings?

Agency... What about the agency did we bring away with us? What do we not want to bring away with us?

Self... what's next? Should we practice after we graduate? If so, which field? What about burn-out? Who advocates for SWers?

Then we talked about what we envisage the profession to be.. what we hope Social Work in Sg could be like..

- SW as a recognized profession
- Higher pay.. why is it what even within the same profession, the pay scale is different. MSWs are paid more than social workers working in VWOs. Is the value of work that workers in VWOs do worth less than that of MSWs?
- SWers working with oppressed, less-reached groups like prostitutes and foreign workers

(to be continued).