Previously I was a student of science faculty. Even after spending two precious years of my life in this stream I found it fruitless in finding the width of intestines and knowing the chemical structure of the elements I would never use in my entire life. Whenever I attended social gatherings every single individual would either be talking about politics, malfunctions of the society or the socio-economical or the cultural situation of the country. No one ever asked me about the formulae of anti derivative or the enzymes present in saliva there. Some people also suggested me to give a try for MBBS. But after calculating the investments I had to make, I didn’t find it to be profitable. Even after 10 years of study( 4 years in MBBS,1 year internship,2 years in MD and 3 more years for higher studies) and investment of minimum 1 crore rupees people would call me a junior doctor at least until my hair turned white. It was evident that I could never save that much money until and unless I choose the wrong ways. If I would invest equal amount of hard work and time on any other fields the results would be huge. Telling in short I had already realized that science and me, we were entirely opposite to each other and didn’t attract in any circumstances. Thus I finally decided to put brakes on my relationship with science and connect with social science. It doesn’t mean that science is not a fruitful subject. Every single field has its uniqueness, its scope and opportunities. Even a social worker needs doctors, engineers and many more people in the course of their job. The only thing was that we weren’t fit for each other.
“21st century” as soon as we hear this, the word
that immediately comes to our mind is cut throat competition, modernization and
advancement and a “degree” has a pivotal role in this era. By nature I am
extrovert, I love exploring things and helping people. Thus in order to achieve the same “degree” with
the essence besides, I opened the gates of GoldenGate. Travelling down the
memory lane I still remember my first day in the college: Spiral notebooks,
fresh set of pens, crisp ironed uniform and me. Now I am standing in the last
year of my “BSW” life with hardly two months of studies left. These three years flew in such a swift manner
that it was hard to believe. People say that science is a practical based
subject while humanities isn’t. If only
they could know how the life of social work students is I assure you they would
change their minds. Every single student who is studying BSW must work 260
hours in an organization compulsorily. He has to go to many more organizations
to conduct research, prepare seminar papers, reports and presentations. He/she
has to develop programs and only then can they attain good marks and finish the
course.
In this very three years I have been through hundreds of
organizations, attended much more seminars and have been able to develop a good
network which will turn out to be beneficial in the coming future. I have been
able to see those things which are hard to believe that they even exist. I have
seen the worst and best things life has to offer. I have seen how low people
leap for money and I have also seen how high people can reach with kindness and
simplicity. In these three years I have learned so many things that would take
me entire lifetime to learn had I chosen another subject. The best part I can
earn money by helping people and will not have to be stuck on any sort of
ethical dilemma for monetary cause.
Few years back I believed people were right when they said
that you don’t need to read social work to become a social worker. Till today I
believe the same thing but to become a professional one it’s mandatory. In a fish market a fish shopkeeper who knows
the variety of fish, has a good speaking capacity and knows how to cut the fish
into fine slices sells well but the one who knows different ways to prepare it
as well sells a packet of mustard seeds more and maybe a kilo of fish more. The
same is in this case. The way to interact with the clients, the principles, the
approaches, the practice systems involved in social work, the tools and methods
required for proper functioning and the proper use of media for minimizing the
existing problems can only be learnt after one has academic knowledge of social
work. GoldenGate has always helped me to learn new insights, has opened up avenues
for me, has helped me to harness my skills and has provided me a platform to
express myself. One of the reasons why I have achieved this much is due to the
supporting faculty of the college and the opportunities I have received. Thus I
would like to express my sincere gratitude to all of them who have helped me to
make this journey a worthwhile one.
