My Work

Week 1 Discussion

Hello, my name is Serena Higgins. I am currently located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I graduated in May of 2019 with a bachelors in criminal justice and a minor in Social Work. Since graduating, I have used the minor side of my degree more than I've used my bachelors in criminal justice. Some of my employment background, I did work for child protective services for a little over a year. I worked at General Protective Services Intake unit for my county and then I took my current position which is I'm a counselor for a mental health and aging program. So I worked with in a nursing home. I'm able to go in and just talk to all my different clients and hear about their lives, which is absolutely the favorite, my favorite part of my job. When I think about myself as a cultural being, I am a white Christian female. I was raised in a single-parent home. I was raised by my mom. But we did traditional family things. So traditional holidays, mealtime was generally to other Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years we did traditional meals there as in Turkey for Thanksgiving, ham for Christmas, and then for New Year's, we always do pork and sauerkraut because it's supposed to, because it's supposed to mean good luck. My cultural story influences my ability to work in cross-cultural situations because one, i've I've worked that way previously with child protective services. You work with many different people from many different walks of life, different cultures, different backgrounds. No story is the same when you're when you're out, especially in the intake department. My experiences have also taught me that you can't judge a book by its cover. I grew up in the suburbs of Easton, Pennsylvania. We appeared to have I don't want to say have it all but from the outside looking in and that's what it probably appeared like. In reality. We were facing financial hardships and my father had passed away. So my experiences have led me to be open to everybody's story and understanding that no person store is going to be the exact same and everybody's experiences and cultural lead them to different outcomes. I got into this profession and I went into my degree with the intent of helping people and being culturally competent and sensitive, allows me to understand that not everyone's situation is the same. And being aware that everybody's culture is going to also have impact on how different scenarios or different situations happen. And the outcomes of those is huge for social work. And I want to be somebody that people feel comfortable talking to. So if I go into it with stereotypes or not being open to listening to everybody's story and their individuality. You block that ability to have an open and honest conversation. So being aware and learning from my client is super important. And why is diversity, equity and inclusion important to me, or why does it matter? Because no person is the same? Even if someone is considered culturally the same as me, it doesn't mean that they have the same experiences or their outcomes are the same. I want people to have the same access to resources. And I want people to know that what they're saying is heard. And I want them to feel valued in their experiences and their story, but thanks.

Week 3 Discussion 2

Hello. So when I was writing my anti-racism statement, I decided to look within the NASW Code of Ethics and choose words that would resonate with us as social workers. So a lot of my wording did come from or the terminology did come from there. My statement expresses my beliefs and my commitment to anti-racism or anti-racist practice. Because for me as a white woman, there are things that I will never experienced that some of my clients will. So when I was writing my statement, I made sure that I put in there like, I want to speak up and advocate for my clients, even in the times that it is uncomfortable for me, which is hard. But I was told in a previous social work job, you know lean into being uncomfortable so that you can advocate for that change for your clients. Then. So my statement addresses the principles of anti-racist practices as described in the textbook. Because it had made mention of, it doesn't just, racism doesn't just change with one person. It changes with much bigger things such as the media or organizations. And I want to make sure that I am part of the change that needs to occur within the bonds of our society. Racism is unfortunately deeply rooted in our society and it doesn't just change with one person who changes with much larger people are much larger populations and larger systems. Thanks.

Week 3 Discussion 2

Week 7 Assignment

Week 10 Assignment

Hello, my name is Serena Higgins and this is my diversity activity. So I had originally done my first assignment on the indigenous population. However, throughout this quarter I was unable to find any trainings available for them, which was definitely shocking. I was a little sad about it. I'm hoping to dig a little further, maybe eventually have something turn up so that I can continue to work on my comfort level there. However, throughout this quarter, I was able to participate in an LGBTQ+ training with Bradbury Sullivan center, and Allentown. This was a three-hour presentation. And during the presentation, we learned about so many different aspects of the LGBTQ+ community. The importance of having a supportive family, and how likely it is and how young adolescents are when they are kicked out of their homes for coming out to their parents. She also discussed suicide and how using the proper pronouns for somebody and their chosen name is important and it actually reduces the likelihood of suicide. To start that training, I was a little nervous. I think that I'm always worried about being offensive or saying the wrong thing. So to go into a training like that in a room full of my coworkers. It was really intimidating. But at the end of it, I felt like I learned a lot of information and I was actually more comfortable and I feel more informed to work with the LGBTQ+ community because of it. The influence. This was an eye-opener for sure. As I mentioned, I wasn't overly comfortable working with the LGBTQ population. Because again, I don't want to be offensive to anybody in the room, the trainer, my coworkers. I don't think that I fully understood the impact of the laws, proper identification, or any of the very complex things that go into being in an oppressed community. I also forgot that not everybody's family is as supportive as mine is. I think when you grow up with a supportive family, you forget that not everybody's family is going to support the decisions behind or love you just the same, just because of your sexuality or not, everybody's family will do that. I feel more comfortable working with individuals in the LGBTQ+ community because I've learned that my actions and my words impact clients. I mean, I knew that but it's a different level of impact. Just identifying somebody properly, it makes a huge difference for somebody. My perceptions. So I know that everyone is different. I think we've had that discussion. Everybody not everybody has the same. You could be raised in the same circumstances, excuse me. And it won't you won't turn out the same as the other person that was raised or dealt with the same situation that you dealt with. But I am aware that I'm never going to fully understand the impacts of the laws and proper pronouns because I am a heterosexual female. You know, we talk about the melting pot a lot. You know, America is a melting pot. But difference is actually feared in our society. If you think about it. We don't like to deal with somebody that is different than us. We don't know how to interact with somebody that is different from us. So taking the time to maybe feel that fear and understand where it's coming from. And then be able to push through, question it and work with it so that you make the impact for somebody else. The best thing that I'm going to do as a social worker going forward is advocate for a population that is oppressed and try to make a difference. Because each group and each diverse population is affected differently based on. The varying circumstances. So analyze the LGBTQ+ individuals are looked down on in our society and have historically been denied access to equal opportunity. You think about like the don't ask, don't tell the mentality of the military or even the right to marriage, which wasn't passed until less than ten years ago. And here we are today having a question by our Supreme Court. And again, that's something that I'm never going to have to worry about. While working with. In that training, I learned that LGBTQ+ individuals are less likely to seek medical attention out of fear, out of already bad experiences or not feeling like they can be who they actually are with their medical professional. If you know, you're gonna be treated negatively, you just avoid it. And that should never be a thing. That shouldn't ever be something that is stopping somebody from seeking medical treatment. There's a lack of resources to help educate individuals on the LGBTQ+ community. This is much bigger than micro practice. It, it starts there, but you have to go all the way to macro here and advocate for policy change and then come down to mezzo and work with groups and educate them so that people actually fully understand the impacts that our laws and bullying and harassment have on these individuals. We have intersectionality. You're not going to have just one part of a person being oppressed. Oftentimes there's more than one which is intersectionality. So you think of, for me, I thought of an LGBTQ+ woman, which there you have the oppression on the LGBTQ+ side, as well as on the being a woman side. Women are making 77% of what a man makes. So on top of being oppressed and not being able to feel safe in going to your doctor's or having resources out there to share who you are. You also have to now worry about facing poverty or needing assistance because of being a woman and being LGBTQ+. These are my resources. Thanks.

Week 10 Powerpoint