Assignment #23

Assignment #23



My journey through the Honors Mentorship Program has been one of the best experiences ever. Through this program I interned at the Place of Forysth, and I worked with a group of amazing men and women. These men and women are respectable people who dedicate their lives to helping each individual. During the time I spent with them, I learned how important it is for the youth to realize how extremely lucky we are. There are so many people in the world struggling with issues that are beyond bearable, and we do not have to deal with those issues. I am grateful that I was able to help some of those people at the Place. I gained an insight of how great it feels to be able to get a glimpse of how the career I would like to pursue works. 

At the Place of Forysth, I was given the opportunity to have some of the women show me the different jobs. Even with their busy schedule, they insisted I got the chance to work with each person. Most of the time, the front lobby of the office is where I would mostly work. My job was to answer phone calls from the different clients, and help anyone who needed assistance. I also participated in several charities like the Holiday House, Thanksgiving Fest, and the Back to School Bash. Along with those charities, I helped around with the thrift store and the food market. All of these required me to be responsible, hardworking, and dedicated, so that I could get the most from my experience. 

My experience at the Place of Forsyth prepared me by teaching me to develop the skills and traits I  need for the future. Some of the skills are communication, multitasking, problem solving, leadership, and multi-cultural. For the traits, it is honesty, positivism, self-confidence, and willingness to learn. Because I was able to develop these skills and traits, I will be more successful. However, my view of social work has changed because the job growth has been decreasing due to several reasons. One of the main reasons is that being a social worker requires of lot of school time and money, so it would make sense to pick a career that pays well. This is not the case. The social workers profession does not have a great yearly salary.  I discovered that it is a great hobby job to have as a hobby, but not as an official job. Lastly, my advice to the next participants in the HMP is to be compassionate about wherever you choose to intern. Do not take it for granted just because you need the hours. Go there, be focused, and trust me you will discover something new. Wherever you intern, make the best experiences, and finally, have fun! 

This picture is a picture sent from Mr. Walkup's phone. 

Abstract

Ayesha Jean
Joni Smith, Executive Director
The Place of Forsyth


I am truly honored that I was able to be in the Honors Mentorship Program to gain an insight of my future career. My internship at the Place of Forsyth has not only broadened my experience in doing something outside of school, but I was able to learn a significant amount of information from the amazing people who work there. The research I did explains the interrelationship between volunteerism and social work. There is research from multiple sources and articles that discusses the history that frames the two topics. As a social worker, it is important to have past volunteer experiences, so that you can connect to everyone you help. You will develop the kindness and mind set needed for the position. Both volunteerism and social work are quite important because they have an  impact in our every day life. My Mentor taught me the importance of being a social worker. It is not doing the job just for a salary, it is using your  experiences  and love for the job to help people overcome challenges.

Relevant Presentation

Assignment #21

"Relevant Presentation"


After watching this video, I learned a lot about how a great presentation should be like. To have a great presentation, you first need to hook the audience using an anecdote or story. For my presentation, I  will definitely use tell a short story. Being calm and funny will make the audience feel better about what they are hearing. You will also feel more confidence in what you are talking about. Lastly, it is imperative to know what you are talking about. You cannot expect to wow an audience if you do not even have the slightest idea of what you are mentioning to everyone.

Annotated Bibliography #3

Name: Ayesha Jean

Source/Bibliography: -MLA	Gibelman, Margaret, and Jay Sweifach. “Acting on Our Values: Do Social Workers Volunteer?” Social Work, vol. 53, no. 1, 2008, pp. 53–64.
Annotation/Summary	In this article, the author discusses the history of socialism and volunteerism. Simply stated, the profession of social work owes its existence to volunteerism. Volunteers founded relief societies, children’s homes, day care programs, recreation services, family and child welfare associations, and mental health associations. There was research done to question if social workers did indeed engage in volunteer activities, what factors engage in their decisions to volunteer, and what types of activities they choose to engage in. Random sampling was used to sample 77,000 licenses social workers. The results were a shock! Many social workers who have volunteered in the past are no longer active volunteers. They said that they have given enough of their time and other people should take on that task. In the end, this shows that the most outstanding professionals in the business might just have a reverse influence on volunteerism.
Potential Quotes:	1." Volunteerism is defined as giving of one’s 6 talent, time and energy to individuals, groups, communities, or organizations without compensation."(53) 2. " The findings demonstrate that social workers have volunteered in the past, but no longer choose to do so." (53)
Assessment:	This book is credible because it was published by the Oxford University Press. It contains specific examples about the history between social work and volunteerism. The book is sold online for a high price, and you can also purchase it on several apps. To be able to read an online copy of this excerpt ,you would need to receive permission by the business or corporation.
Reflection:	This article fits into my research because it specifically discusses the history of social work and volunteerism. First, it provides specific points about research done involving the amount of social workers, who to this day, are still actively involved in volunteering.  I definitely enjoyed this article, but there are certain point when I wished that the writing could be easier to understand. However, it has great examples of events that has shown the relationship between social work and volunteerism. So I will be sure to sure several of those when I give examples.

Informative Paragraph

Assignment #17

2/10/2017


For my capstone project, there are several ideas I hope I am able to achieve. I will conduct several interviews with the employees at the Place of Forsyth to get a more unbiased research. Because the answer to my essential question pertains to not just social workers and psychologist, I have to make sure the research goes for everybody. I am hoping to find more articles that correlates to my question, so I can gather extra facts or specific details I need. To make my presentation much more interesting and intriguing, I will most likely make a Prezi presentation and handouts, so my audience can see everything and have a copy of their own. I want the handouts to be colorful and to contain pictures, so they can get a good visual.

Annotated Summary

Ayesha Jean

Mr.Walkup

Honors Mentorship Program

05 February 2017

Annotated Bibliography Summary

The article I researched is from the Academy of Management Journal at University of Georgia, which is written by a student named Jessica Rodell. In this article, Rodell first brings a statement that many people may or may not agree with,"Volunteering is prevalent and on the rise in the United States, but little research has examined the connection between individuals’ volunteering and their jobs. In the absence of that research, it remains unclear whether employees volunteer to build on meaningful work experiences or to compensate for the lack of them."(Rodell 1) She elaborates on this statement depicting how an individual’s workplace influences volunteering and how volunteering in turn influences his/her workplace. There is a mutual relationship between the two domains.

The author thrives to make a dashing point because according to a survey almost 62 million Americans donated their time to some sort of volunteer or charitable organization. However, there has not been much research to further this information. This is where Jessica Rodell and her outstanding research comes in! There is little research on whether the performance implications of volunteering on a people's work is positive or negative.  The overall purpose it to not just inform readers on the various aspects, but to examine the intersection of the volunteer and work domains. The first study is to focus on the relationship between job meaningfulness and volunteering. This means that there has to be close inspection of the specific reasons as to why someone volunteers; Maybe it is to be more motivated or to fill in the lack of something missing.

There are several quotes I chose from the article that will support my essential question. The first quote is, "Results suggested that volunteering was associated with both volunteer and job meaningfulness, and that the meaningful volunteer work was even stronger when employees had less meaning in their jobs."(Rodell 1) The quote is important because it ties the two factors in together. The other quotes blend in with the first quote; They are  support to the first quote. Some of the other quotes, in conclusion, say that President Obama first initiated the campaign,Unite We Serve, to help Americans be more involved in volunteering. Recently, there was a survey done to see how many people accomplished this goal. More than 62 million Americans were involved in their community. In addition to volunteering at work places, there may be more meaning as to why people who do not volunteer are unhappy in their life or work place.

The article is published by the Academy of Management Journal, is the flagship empirical journal in management, and has been indispensable reading for management scholars for more than five decades. Jessica Rodell's article is one of the many collections of articles in this book. It has also been ready by many people professional or not. She has been recognized by the University of Georgia for her amazing research and skills. The source is extremely credible because this information is mentioned on Galileo.

Lastly, this article is specific and well written. The questions Rodell were closely related to my essential question. Therefore, it made understanding the research a bit easier for me. I think it was genius of Rodell to use the scientific method procedure and a table to further her research. Instead of just statistics and facts, I appreciate that there were visuals so you could actually see the drastic correlations between the measure of volunteering and a worker's job performance or behavioral performance. I will definitely use several of the visuals to help me better explain my essential question. However, I will use my sources from my primary source to really narrow down all of the important points I want to discuss in my presentation.

Work Cited Page

RODELL, JESSICA B. "Finding Meaning Through Volunteering: Why Do Employees Volunteer And What Does It Mean For Their Jobs?." Academy Of Management Journal 56.5 (2013): 1274-1294. Business Source Complete. Web. 28 Jan. 2017.

Annotated Bibliography Graphic Organizer #2

Annotated Bibliography Graphic Organizer
1/28/2017
Assignment #15

Name: Ayesha Jean

Source/Bibliography: -MLA/APA	RODELL, JESSICA B. "Finding Meaning Through Volunteering: Why Do Employees Volunteer And What Does It Mean For Their Jobs?." Academy Of Management Journal 56.5 (2013): 1274-1294. Business Source Complete. Web. 28 Jan. 2017. RODELL, J. B. (2013). FINDING MEANING THROUGH VOLUNTEERING: WHY DO EMPLOYEES VOLUNTEER AND WHAT DOES IT MEAN FOR THEIR JOBS?. Academy Of Management Journal, 56(5), 1274-1294. doi:10.5465/amj.2012.0611
Annotation/Summary	This source is from the Academy of Management Journal at University of Georgia, which is written by a student named Jessica Rodell. In this article, Rodell first brings a statement that many people may or may not agree with; "Volunteering is prevalent and on the rise in the United States, but little research has examined the connection between individuals’ volunteering and their jobs. In the absence of that research, it remains unclear whether employees volunteer to build on meaningful work experiences or to compensate for the lack of them"(Rodell 1). She elaborates on this statement depicting how an individual’s workplace influences volunteering and how volunteering in turn influences his/her workplace. There is a mutual relationship between the two domains. The author thrives to make a dashing point because according to a survey almost 62 million Americans donated their time to some sort of volunteer or charitable organization. However, there has not been much research to further this information. This is where Jessica Rodell and her outstanding research comes in! There is little research on whether the performance implications of volunteering on a people's work is positive or negative.          The overall purpose it to not just inform readers on the various aspects, but to examine the intersection of the volunteer and work domains. The first study is to focus on the relationship between job meaningfulness and volunteering. This means that there has to be close inspection of the specific reasons as to why someone volunteers; Maybe it is to be more motivated or to fill in the lack of something missing. The second study is to examine how volunteering impacts the job performance. Rodell then bases her research using the scientific method. Specific procedures were done to carefully examine study 1 and study 2. With further research these are several of the questions that were created to deepen the statement further; Does volunteering compensate for a lack of meaningfulness at work, does meaningfulness gained at work enhance volunteering, and what are the consequences of employee volunteering?  In conclusion, there was an amazing result to the procedure. One main point is that employee volunteering need not be harmful, and may even facilitate, job performance. It appears to be beneficial for an individual’s job performance.
Potential Quotes:	·"Results suggested that volunteering was associated with both volunteer and job meaningfulness, and that the pull of meaningful volunteer work was even stronger when employees had less meaning in their jobs"(1). · " At the start of his first term, President Barack Obama initiated the “United We Serve” campaign designed to encourage Americans to get involved by volunteering in their communities"(1). · "The most recent national survey estimated that 62.8 million Americans, or 26.3 percent of the population, donated their time or skills to a charitable or volunteer organization in 2010 (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2011)"(1). · " Sociologists have indirectly touted the role of voracity—through the enhancement perspective—in regard to volunteering"(5). · "In addition to employees’ volunteering in response to a growing desire for meaning stemming from the work domain, they may also volunteer to compensate for jobs that do not provide enough meaning"(16).
Assessment:	This article is published by the Academy of Management Journal, is the flagship empirical journal in management, and has been indispensable reading for management scholars for more than five decades. Jessica Rodell's article is one of the many collections of articles in this book. It has also been ready by many people professional or not.
Reflection:	Out of the majority of the articles I have read, this article is one of the most specific ones. What I mean by that Rodell's questions were closely related to my essential question. Therefore, it made reading a bit easier for me. I think it was genius of Rodell to use the scientific method procedure and a table to further her research. Instead of just statistics and facts, I appreciate that there were visuals so you could actually see the drastic correlations between the measure of volunteering and a worker's job performance or behavioral performance. I will definitely use several of the visuals to help me better explain my essential question. However, I will use my sources from my primary source to really narrow down all of the important points I want to discuss in my presentation.  I also found several statistics and facts that would help me introduce my question when I write my paper. I can also use them If I want to back up a point.

Written Proposal

Assignment #14 

01/16/2017

" Written Proposal"


In addition to the all the research I have been doing, the interview I recently did with the psychologist have given me an advance to further continue my research.  When I first thought of what my essential question would be, I was not too sure I would be able to discover more information on it. However, during the interview, I was able to connect my question with several of the questions. So I have a very strong desire to make this research successful, so that I can show all my peers, mentors, and the Honors Mentorship adviser that there is indeed something worth showing. I also would like to make my mentors and the psychologist I interview proud of how my capstone display all the time I spent at the Place of Forsyth.

Yes, I tweaked my essential question to make it more specific. My essential is now "How does having the foundation of charity and volunteer work  implement to the growth in the psychology field? "  I personally like the change I made to my essential question because it is more professional and interesting. Before it was insipid and improper.

For my capstone project at the end of the school year, I envision myself publishing a brochure for a specific audience or creating a model. These two ideas are extremely fun and will help my presentation.

Finally, for my real inquiry, besides using just books information from online, I will conduct more interviews and person to person interactions with professionals and people with experiences in the field. I want to get as much input as I can from  a variety of people. I also want to search for articles and statistics for my research.

Interview 1 on 1

January 13, 2017 

Assignment #13 

" Essential Question Research Interview "

For the interview, I was required to ask the person ten questions I believe would further support the research I will be doing for my essential question. I will have the question listed along with the response and my reflection. Here they are! 

1. What do I believe is your biggest accomplishment in your work?

·  My biggest accomplishment is helping people connect with others and helping people understand their own battles and making sure they understand each other. I want to connect with them. 

· I think that is one of the most important factors in the field. Before yourself, you have to put your clients as one of your top priorities because they are putting their trust in you to help them. I admire that you consider that as one of your accomplishments. Truly amazing! 

2. Has dedicating your time to volunteering( if you have that experience) impact the work you do now? 

·  Yes,of course! My experiences throughout this journey completely changed my view of the career. I worked and trained in several different areas; I counseled people from different backgrounds. All of it was new to me, but I am now able to connect to with everyone on a different level. You feel the pain and the joy they feel. You grow to care much more than for the people than the actual requirements of the job itself. It is truly amazing. 

·  This answer was extremely eye-opening to me. I remember when I did my last post on my essential question, and one of the information I found talked about opening yourself up to gaining the experience needed before starting the career path. I believe that most people consider school itself is just the right amount of experience. That is not true! School is most definitely helpful for gaining the knowledge needed, but it is a completely different story when you go out there and experience the real thing. You never know what you will discover about yourself. I once again admire how you value the times you spent volunteering and doing charity work. 

3. Where do you think the field of social work( or specific profession) is heading in the next 5 years or so?

· I think that in 5 years  from now  psychology will continue to expand, and not just psychology, but the different careers within the field. In terms of social workers, it will continue to grow, though there are areas where it is needed more.  It will be more important because we are living in a world where there is just so much commotion occurring. Maybe it is divorce or the death of someone close, in conclusion, people find it more bearable to talk to an expert whom they trust will help them cope. 

· I agree one-hundred percent with the answer. The answer reflects on why it will grow over the years. It optimistic. The world continues to grow and change everyday, so people find it comforting at times to talk to someone who can just listen or give them help. It does not matter how much it might cost. 

4. How does your experiences make you right for this role?

·  I always listen to my patients and thrive to understand their opinions, but I also show them other ways of dealing with the obstacles they face and values that they can later on use so they can reach a more peaceful level. 

· This one example of how much more amazing it is to have those experiences in the field. Though it is good to have the knowledge, it is more inspirational to be able to have more compassion towards the people you work with.  It is truly amazing to view how much passion you have towards your clients and the problems you help them face. 

5. What personality traits do you have that help you communicate effectively?  

·  I have a very strong personality. At times, I might seem to come off as scary or over the top. Typical. However, I always work with my heart and have strong values and truthful to my patients. I thrive to be honest, hopeful, hard-working, kind, and open- minded, and so on. Not that I am bragging, but these are traits I have develop over the years after much hard work because I wanted to be the best at what I do. 

· This is an honest and sweet answer because she saw what people could have believe made her not applicable for this career, but she proved people wrong. She pushed herself to develop amazing character traits that will continue to do help her do great deeds. Wow, I am so impressed by how refreshing you are. That might seem like an odd compliment, but you truly are an amazing role model. I hope that I can push myself to develop more traits like these over the years. 

6. What is one of the most challenging situations you have dealt with? 

· One of the hardest situations I usually come across is  trying to help a patient when they do not want to be helped. It is really difficult trying to help someone who struggles like this. Sometimes, the patient might not fully know if they want help or not, because the situation could be overbearing and tough. In those stages, I have to be extremely careful as to not make them feel uncomfortable with them. I want them to open up to me. Those can be tough to break through, but with time and patience I get there. 

· I cannot begin to imagine how difficult that can be. The feeling that comes with this response is pain. I think one of the hardest things is not knowing what to do when you are in a difficult time. This shows how important it is to be patient because if you are not, then you might potentially miss out helping someone who really needs it. 

7. How does the experience  you have working with people whose culture, race or sexual orientation impact or hep you now?

·   It made me stronger in some situations and made me understand that everyone is different and have more tolerance with some situations. There are so many things going on in the world, and when you see them you change completely. 

· I wished there would've been more depth to this question, but I am very pleased with the response. Seeing things you might have never seen before can either change you for the better or for the worst.

8. What are some rigor requirements do you feel someone should have going into this field? It can be before or after college. 

·   You have to have dedication and to like helping others and most importantly listen to others, and love what you do. This might seem like a simple answer, but when you love what you do, you never want to stop doing it. 

· This is true on so many levels. I know someone who went to school for something, and he got a degree. In the end, he said he is grateful for all the years he had the opportunity to do what he did, but he is now realizing that he wanted something else. The pressure of everyone on him made him not see what he wanted. What is the point of going to school for something you are passionate about? You are wasting your time and money. 

9.What are some ways social workers or anyone in the psychology field can have an impact on a macro level?

· We can have an impact on macro level by using social media to share your experiences of the good this career can do. Moreover, it is more important on  how you treat your patients and how to deal with all their feelings and make them find peace. 

· This is true when it comes to using social media to spread the good word. There is so much negativity on social media about things that are irrelevant. We need to have more positivist out there!  

10. Do you think volunteering or charity work have a tremendous impact emotionally or mentally on a social worker? 

· 

Yes, it does because we deal with different types of people and stories, so it can be very hard and emotionally and mentally. So we need to be able to, like I said before, connect with each individual on a certain level. 

· * Thank you for interviewing me and letting me share what I believe is important.

· I believe it is! Colleges and institutions are not just looking for how much you are acing your classes and the amazing trophies you have( not that it is not impressive), but they are looking for how passionate you are about something. They look for if you took some time to see what that job or career field is really about.  

My Essential Question Relflection

"Essential Question"

Assignment #12

My essential question: How does having the foundation of  charity and volunteer work implement to the growth in the psychology field?

1. Why did you select this as your essential question?  

I     I selected this as my essential question because while I have been interning at the Place of Forsyth, I constantly question how the career I want in psychology would incorporate into the work people do at the Place. Some of the questions I ask myself are," does just having a degree without experience benefit you? How much more can you relate to your clients if you just have a degree in psychology? Will you really see the reality of being a social worker or psychologist?" Overtime, I have realized that one of the first misconceptions is assuming that a degree alone will get me a job after graduation.  In today's world, employers expect much more from an applicant than just a degree alone. The questions they will ask you transitioned from "do you have a college degree?" to "what experience and skills did you gain while you were in high school or college? " This brings me back to my question. Striving to gain several types of experiences, such as research , internships, volunteering and part-time jobs on my resume by the time I graduate will benefit me greatly.  These types of experiences will not only help me decide on a career path, but they are necessary to landing my first job and/or being accepted to the graduate program of my choice! However, it is more than just being accepted to my dream graduate program.  A chartered psychologist named Ruth Lowry once said," long term volunteering is a form of pro-social behavior that involves commitment given over an extended period of time."  In conclusion, you will definitely find the real value of the career instead of acquiring it and just doing the job like it is no different. No, volunteer and charity work has challenged me to do things I  have never done before and commit to amazing things. There is always so much more to learn and to do with an amazing career like this. 

     

    2.  What excites you most about finding the answer to this essential question?

        I am extremely excited to share what I have discovered about this question with other people. I am excited to find other students or people who are interested in the same career as me, and to give them an insight on the most important parts of pursuing this career. Throughout my life, I have known that helping people is the only thing I want to do. Everyone wants to make a difference in someone's life, but I want to learn and educate myself the right way. so I can be the light in people's lives.   I am an immense fan of movies, and there are several movies I have watched with a psychologist, psychiatrist, or a social worker. The characters who played these roles did an amazing job portraying how several people actually do their job. They do not commit to the time they have with each client; it is only about the money. They do not have the experience needed to help them connect with their clients. They are not committed to the job itself, and they overall do not strain to push themselves out of their comfort zone. Therefore, I do not want to be like one of those psychologist or social worker. I want to show people that committing to doing things like volunteering an doing charity work will take you a long way. You will not just be brighter on your resumes, but you will also discover a whole different side you might have not known you had. 

      3. Do you feel that this question accurately reflects a desire/need that you have to find out more about this topic?     I most definitely fee that this question accurately reflects the desire I have to find out more about this topic because I feel like there are people in the world who are blessed with this amazing career and they take advantage of it. Most of them might not feel the need to acquire any experience, but that is completely inaccurate. I am also not speaking about the school experience; you definitely need to gain that experience, but I am discussing the work with people from a different background and situation type of experience. At the Place, I work with a variety of different people; people with all different types of situations come and ask for help. I have always tried to make sure that they felt comfortable, so sometimes I would play with their kids or talk to them about their life. Most of them always find it so interesting when I talk about Haiti. Just for that moment, the maybe forgot about their life situation. It is the little things like this that pushes me to see a whole new light of wanting to be a psychologist. It is easier to talk to interact with people who are different than me. I learn to listen to their story and I can find ways to help them feel more content. It does not even have to be an enormous gesture; It can just be by telling them how well they raised their children or telling them of all the great things there is to look forward to in life. I have the desire to learn more about my question and the different impacts it it will on someone like me. 

"The First Soft Skill to Develop in Students"

Assignment #11
12/3/16

"The First Soft Skill to Develop in Students"


What is social intelligence? Social intelligence is "the capacity to effectively negotiate complex social relationships and environments." This is extremely important when it comes to first impressions. It is having the ability to create relationships with people you encounter. Social intelligence is an important factor in a person's life because according to Goleman's research," your social relationships have a direct effect on aspects of our physical health, such as blood flow, breathing, moods such as fatigue and depression, and the weakening of our immune system. In fact, the deeper the relationship, the deeper the impact"(Goleman).  It allows your to grow internally and externally, and you will be able to create more stability in your character. 

Now in our days, the youth society faces a lot of difficulty in today's workplace because of several factors. First, even though most college graduates have an outstanding degree, they might not have the right character. During interviews, HR executives say that the young adults come across as the following: too loud ,too forward ,too self-absorbed, and lacking self-awareness. Even if they have the right qualifications, the smallest thing like being lazy or gossiping too much can have a lot of affects.
The young adults need to know what they should expect and the things they need to know about the real world.

In the article, I was extremely shocked and startled by the judgment the youth faces. It is upsetting to see that even if you were to have the perfect qualifications for a job, if you do not know how to create a comfortable environment with the people around you or know how to create a great first impression, then you might not have a chance. It does not matter how good you are at the job, there are things you should've been told before entering the work force. However, that is not the case.


https://growingleaders.com/blog/first-soft-skill-develop-students/