Tough Road Ahead

While doing my research on npr.org, I found the article, "....Tough Road Ahead", to be something worthwhile that I couldn't pass up. After listening to the story of the many people who aged out of the foster care I began to see a trend. I noticed that each person who aged out of the system had either a tough time being productive in the real world or didn't succeed in life at all. While listening to the conversations, I began to think of the advantage that people who were not in the system had over those who have been in the system all of their childhood and teenage years.

Normally, people who grew up in stable households don't have to worry about life after high school simply because; their parents help take care of any financial issues that may occur while pursuing their career. But, those of them who don't have the advantage of loving parents or guardians that will help with their endeavors while becoming successful, become overwhelmed with debt and other emotions that they can't control because they were uneducated by the "system".  Sadly, aging out of foster care is a common situation that almost all foster children have to deal with if they don't end up in jail or dead for that matter. The fact that this is the norm for foster children scares me simply because it's not their fault that life dealt them a bad hand, the "system" should recognize this and do more than just get kids through what they think is the most crucial times of their lives. I believe, they should help people that actually want more out of life by taking that extra step and doing something to better the foster children and themselves.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125729965

The Garden Project

For my project I will be visiting the Garden Project which is a halfway house in the city of Camden. As if the picture was not a dead give away, the Garden Project is simply a program that allows women who are on probation or in and out of jail a chance to obtain community service hours and an opportunity to experience what it is like to be from behind bars. With this being said, the program permits the women to do many different activities indoors, such as arts and crafts, and outdoors, such as gardening, that will help them build character. When I heard about this project I decided that it would be the perfect thing for me to base my project on. Not only will this program take me out of my element, but it will allow me to build my character and give me a better understanding of how something as simple as gardening or arts and crafts will impact another person’s life.

Helping Hand

I couldn’t find my sister’s camera to take a picture of what I thought social work looked like but, I figured this picture of hands would suffice. The very moment I saw this picture I knew that it symbolized everything that I find social work to be. I call this picture the “Helping Hand” simply because it displays an older hand, maybe a father or grandfather, leading a younger hand into the right direction. This image stuck out from all of the others because it allowed me to see that social work is more than just a task that people are compensated for but, something that everyone does on a daily bases. Fathers, mothers, grandparents, and even siblings help guide the “future”, the younger generation, toward the correct path. With this being said, social work does the exact same thing, it helps people of almost any age prosper through life’s unforgiving trials. Although, this is not an “original Naleah picture”, it has meaning and exhibits what I find to be the beauty of social work.      

Study Woes

"Study Finds More Woes Following Foster Care”, an article written by Erik Eckholm, was something that opened my eyes to the statistics that people really don’t want to pay attention to. For example, 30,000 children are forced into a shaky adulthood due to the foster care system. Six in 10 men had been convicted of a crime, and three in four women, many of them with children of their own, were receiving some form of public assistance. This article has forced me to come to the realization that the average person doesn’t want to think about what they can do to help other people get ahead. But, they would rather see those very people that need support the most fail and use them as a stepping stool to get to where they think they need to be. I find that to be a sad thing to say but, in all reality it’s the truth. Due to the fact that people don’t help one another anymore not only adults are failing at the game of life but unfortunate children and teens are failing as well. What a promising future human kind has to look forward to.   

Dante's Inferno

The Inferno is the first part of Dante Alighieri's poem, the Divine Comedy, which chronicles Dante's journey to God, and is made up of Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise. The poems are short but, it is said that it takes some time to understand the language that Dante uses. In the Inferno, Dante starts on ground level and works downward toward hell and eventually goes through the steps that are supposed to lead him to heaven. The plot of the Divine Comedy is simple; it is the narrative of Dante's journey towards redemption. The Inferno is generally thought to be the most interesting part of the Devine Comedy. I hope it is what people make it out to be.

For Colored Girls

The movie “For Colored Girls” was a poetic inspirational film that was not only made for women of color but, for women of any race. This movie opened my eyes to some of the many obstacles that women endure throughout their daily lives. Ranging from young to old this movie captures the many feelings that any female can undergo during her lifetime. I believe, this film was made to give women hope through their everyday struggles and through other situations that can really affect the way they chose to live out their lives. I feel that one of the main scenes in this movie that captured my attention was something that made me realize just how important social work is in today’s society. But, there is so much more to the film than just the social work “aspect”. There are also other issues that go on in the movie that will really open your eyes and see the true colors of people in the world. Before I ruin the movie for you, here’s a preview that can justify all that was said above:

Precious

This was not only a heart wretching film but, an eye opener for many people that saw this movie. I believe "Precious" displays one of the many different fields of social work and it allowed me to see what it would really be like to work for social services. With this being said, I highly recommend people to see this movie to allow others to obtain the experience that I received while watching this film. 

Precious, movie review by Tesia M.:
I downloaded this review from wordpress.com http://newbiecritics.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/precious-movie-review-tesia-m/
A clip from the movie Precious:
I embeded this clip from youtube.com (This was a tear jerking part of the movie for me.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJGNfpPFVrk&feature=channel