Looking for any general feedback people would be kind enough to give, but specifically looking for thoughts and opinions on me addressing past substance abuse. Its a major part of why I fell in love with social work and the clients I worked with, and that experience is the driving force behind my desire to pursue law school. With that said, I can understand how some may view it as a liability (despite me being 10 years clean). I guess what I am really looking to know is with my time in social work, does my use come off as adversity overcome and harnessed for good, or just a negative regardless. Thanks in advance to any and all feed back.
"Being a lawyer has always been the only profession that I've aspired to be a part of. My initial attraction to the field started in my teens, and was born mainly out of my interest in debate, and the desire to make a lot of money. Over the past 6 years however, while my interest in becoming a lawyer has remained, my motivations have dramatically changed. The change started with my discovering the field of social work, and the past 6 years I have spent in that field have not only changed my motivations, but have also better prepared me for the next step in my life than I could have hoped for.
Upon graduating college in 2006, I wanted to take a year off before law school and spend that time working a job that would allow me to gain real world legal experience and the opportunity to network with people already in the field. That one year off turned into six, not because I lost interest in the law, but because I fell in love with the work I was doing and the positive impact I felt I was having. The positive impact I saw wasn't just mine on my clients, it was just was much theirs on me. I've been lucky enough to work with so many great people I otherwise would not have, and what I have learned from them and the connections I formed with them will last a life time.
The connection I was feeling with my clients was largely based on a few common aspects I shared with them in terms of background; I dropped out of high school, and struggled with drug addiction. My drug use started at 12 and by 17 I was using hard drugs on a daily basis. At age 22, a series of traumatic events including the loss of a close friend and a few trips to the hospital forced me towards sobriety. Unlike many of my clients, I had a supportive network of friends and family who where their to pick me up when I was down. Without those people in my life, I'm not sure I'd be alive, let alone writing this statement.
At age 22 I obtained my GED and returned to college after dropping out of high school at age 15. Like most of the people that I've worked with in the social work field, I lacked much of the core knowledge one gets from high school in addition to the good habits needed to be a good student. It was by no means easy, but again I had a very supportive group of people in my life to encourage me to work through it. I could see that fear of returning to school that I too once had in my clients. When you don't have people to tell you otherwise, its easy to think you're too far behind to go back now.
The more time I spent in social work, the more I found two things motivating me to stay in the field; client relationships, and advocacy. It just so happened those two things went hand and hand. The better I got to know the person, the easier I found it to advocate on their behalf. Solving an individual problem, I learned, often required getting to know the individual and the unique nature of their personalities and personal histories.
While I left social work about six months ago, I maintain many relationships with former clients, some as friends and some as a mentor. These are some of the most valued relationships I have. As for the advocacy, that was really the bread and butter of my job. Helping individuals and families identify needs, and making sure those needs where addressed is probably what I miss most about the job. The truth is, that while social work is often viewed as a "selfless" job, the reason I stayed was probably much more selfish. The gratification of helping others overcome obstacles and begin to reach their potential is what drove me, and the opportunity to do so is something I am lucky to have had.
While my time as a social worker has likely come to an end, the motivations, skills and experience I have gained from those jobs will remain. I want to move on to a new chapter in my life, but not a new subject. I want to take my own personal experiences, along with the hard work, motivations, relationship building and advocacy I have learned from social work and begin to apply it to helping those same people navigate the criminal justice and family court systems. While I most likely see my self working as either a public defender or guardian ad litem, in general, I know that public interest law is ultimately what I want to pursue, and the past 6 years have cemented that belief and have better prepared me to serve in that role than almost any other job I could imagine."
