Spring Break Reflections

Recently for spring break my friends and I travelled to Miami, Florida. In miami, I got the experience to discover alot of hispanics and the enviroment they live in. We travelled through the pooere neighborhoods of miami which consisited of mostly hispanic and african americans. It made me wonder how do these minority people often are the ones living in such poverty or low income areas. There were only a few white families living in these below standard living neighborhoods. As a social worker, I realize that I will be experiencing alot of contact with people who have low income and live in areas such as blackmond road and what I saw in downtown Miami. I realize how unsafe most of these places are because people do what they have to survive. What it takes to survive usually consists of prositituion, drug deals, and stealing because most of these people do not have jobs are can not get a good one due to lack of education. I hope that I an empower these people to change for the better given the opportunity to work with a family or individual living in these conditions. When I think I have it bad in as a college kid because I feel that I am broke and livnig on a budget, all I have do is think about the great opportunities I have in life and I no longer feel upset. I become much more gracious and appreciate what I have more. I feel that a greater appreciataion of life is one of the great aspects of being a social worker. As a social worker you will experience alot of things that will make you appreciate and realize that truly your life is not as bad as you think.

Alcohol Abuse

Recently in social work 20o we discussed Alcohol and drug abuse. Its hard to belive how common this is among individuals. I know about 3 people that have been in keystones due to an alcohol problem. Alchohol is a problem that runs in my family. My grandpa was an alcohol and luckily he recovered and stopped for a few years. It also make me wonder why do people get started? I believe it starts in college. college is a time where most people drink and partyall the time. They stay drunk alot and forget who their selves are. I know alot of people like this. Its like they feel incomplete with out drinking and they do not know what to do with out getting drunk. This topic hits home for me because i am familiar with this topic. Luckily I do not have any close experiences with drugs. I have lost a boyfriend due to alcohol. He was killed in a drunk driving accident. I wonder what the world we be like with out alcohol? I wonder how many lives would still be here?