Sunday, October 19, 2008
Sunday, October 12, 2008
My Future Career
My immediate career goals include going to graduate school for Social Work specializing in family and children studies and going into the Peace Corps depending on which opportunity presents itself first within the next year. With a Master's degree and relevant experience in the Peace Corps, I am hoping to build up to a successful career as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, providing counselling services to families and children, working with at risk youth and perhaps becoming a motivational speaker on diversity awareness and appreciation and social justice.
My internship presently offers me the opportunity to gain experience working with at risk young women, developing programming and being a positive role model. For example this week, I am planning and facilitating a program on substance abuse. Instead of simply lecturing the girls on the types of drugs out there and why they are bad, I intend to approach this topic from the point of view of the anthropologist, a deeper and more complete examination of the problem that is substance abuse. I want to discuss with the girls why they are at risk for substance abuse, why people use, who it affects, and where to get help. I believe that experiences such as these will improve my public speaking and programming abilities and teach me how to connect and interact professionally with clients. My internship is also educating me on how to work well with others and how to problem solve. I believe that these skills will help me to eventually become a competent Social Worker.
I would very much like to continue my work with the Girl Scouts and I am hoping to grow within the organization. I love the team work atmosphere, and I am very passionate about the work that we do. I am a bit perturbed at times by the disorganization and lack of direction that I receive in the work that I do but that is all part of working in the area of social services and I have learned very quickly that I have to be extremely flexible to function in this kind of environment.
My internship presently offers me the opportunity to gain experience working with at risk young women, developing programming and being a positive role model. For example this week, I am planning and facilitating a program on substance abuse. Instead of simply lecturing the girls on the types of drugs out there and why they are bad, I intend to approach this topic from the point of view of the anthropologist, a deeper and more complete examination of the problem that is substance abuse. I want to discuss with the girls why they are at risk for substance abuse, why people use, who it affects, and where to get help. I believe that experiences such as these will improve my public speaking and programming abilities and teach me how to connect and interact professionally with clients. My internship is also educating me on how to work well with others and how to problem solve. I believe that these skills will help me to eventually become a competent Social Worker.
I would very much like to continue my work with the Girl Scouts and I am hoping to grow within the organization. I love the team work atmosphere, and I am very passionate about the work that we do. I am a bit perturbed at times by the disorganization and lack of direction that I receive in the work that I do but that is all part of working in the area of social services and I have learned very quickly that I have to be extremely flexible to function in this kind of environment.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Connect Concentration Areas to Applied Study Site
The majority of the classes that I have taken throughout my college career have been extremely eye opening and educational. I feel that many of the concepts that I have been introduced to within my concentration areas and even within my general studies courses in one way or another can be applied to my internship.
Within my Anthropology concentration, I have been exposed to the culture and lifestyles of peoples around the world. I have learned to appreciate and embrace diversity in all of its forms. I have become aware of my own ethnocentric attitudes, those of others around me and in my society and I try to dispel those attitudes in my girl scouts through programming that encourages open minded attitudes and celebrates diversity. The Girl Scout organization in itself values diversity in the work place, in its employees, members, clients and in the services that it provides.
The courses within my music concentration examined the history of various genres and how those genres blended and evolved into what we enjoy today in addition to basic music principles. What I have taken away from this is the idea that in order to effectively understand and change the present and future, you have to study the foundation and history of how things got that way. At the Girl Scouts, we are supplied with and encouraged to read text on teens with a variety of issues and problems and educate ourselves on passed programming in an effort to better understand our girls and supply them with the best resources, information and skills.
My Social Work course has introduced me to the concept of client empowerment where by you supply the individual(s) that you are working with, with the tools to improve their situation but ultimately success or failure is in the hands of the client. At my internship, through programming we provide the girls with information on many issues that we feel are relevant to them, from college preparation, to substance abuse prevention. We believe that education and knowledge is empowering. We can only hope that they choose to take the path that positively enriches their lives.
My Social Work class has also stressed the importance of professionalism in the way you dress, converse and interact with clients in order to maintain an atmosphere of respect and trust. This is essential to my work with the Juvenile Justice program. I always need to be aware of what I say and the way that I act when I am around the girls. I have to know where to draw the line by not disclosing too much personal information and also by not taking my work home with me. It has been extremely difficult for me but I am finally grasping that concept.
Within my Anthropology concentration, I have been exposed to the culture and lifestyles of peoples around the world. I have learned to appreciate and embrace diversity in all of its forms. I have become aware of my own ethnocentric attitudes, those of others around me and in my society and I try to dispel those attitudes in my girl scouts through programming that encourages open minded attitudes and celebrates diversity. The Girl Scout organization in itself values diversity in the work place, in its employees, members, clients and in the services that it provides.
The courses within my music concentration examined the history of various genres and how those genres blended and evolved into what we enjoy today in addition to basic music principles. What I have taken away from this is the idea that in order to effectively understand and change the present and future, you have to study the foundation and history of how things got that way. At the Girl Scouts, we are supplied with and encouraged to read text on teens with a variety of issues and problems and educate ourselves on passed programming in an effort to better understand our girls and supply them with the best resources, information and skills.
My Social Work course has introduced me to the concept of client empowerment where by you supply the individual(s) that you are working with, with the tools to improve their situation but ultimately success or failure is in the hands of the client. At my internship, through programming we provide the girls with information on many issues that we feel are relevant to them, from college preparation, to substance abuse prevention. We believe that education and knowledge is empowering. We can only hope that they choose to take the path that positively enriches their lives.
My Social Work class has also stressed the importance of professionalism in the way you dress, converse and interact with clients in order to maintain an atmosphere of respect and trust. This is essential to my work with the Juvenile Justice program. I always need to be aware of what I say and the way that I act when I am around the girls. I have to know where to draw the line by not disclosing too much personal information and also by not taking my work home with me. It has been extremely difficult for me but I am finally grasping that concept.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Organizational Structure - Multidisciplinary or Interdisciplinary?
In my opinion, overall, the Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus Pine Council operates in a more interdisciplinary than multidisciplinary manner. The organization is divided into teams rather than departments and these teams are organized like a matrix rather than a hierarchy in that no team is viewed as more essential to the success and functioning of the company and the teams all rely on each other in some way. The teams are as follows, the Executive Services Response Team (ESRT) whose focus is organizational leadership, the Public Identity Response Team (PIRT) who is responsible for handing all matters related to the public identity of the Girl Scout establishment, the Volunteer Services Response Team (VSRT) who organize the many volunteers that contribute time to the company, the Area Teams who work to retain and increase Girl Scout membership and the Direct Services Response Team (DSRT) who are responsible for programming and which is the team that I am a part of. These teams work individually of each other to achieve yearly and team goals and this can be seen as multidisciplinary because they all provide a variety of different services but work within the same organization. However, these teams cannot exist or function without each other. They all contribute to the general mission of the girl scouts and draw on each other's skills, knowledge and experience. For instance, the DSRT could not develop, coordinate and facilitate programs for the organization if the Area teams did not work to recruit and retain girl scouts. In this way the teams are all connected in a very important way to each other and this link supports an interdisciplinary framework.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Blog Entry 1
My name is Leanne Murphy. I am a second semester senior and an Interdisciplinary Studies Major with concentrations in Music and Anthropology. I chose these areas of study because I wanted to learn more about the history and structure of various genres of music and the cultures and daily lives of peoples around the world.
Music has always been a very important part of my life and environment since my family consists of several musicians and a composer and lyricist. I continued on in the tradition by teaching myself guitar and piano and doing what comes most naturally to me, singing. My music concentration has helped me to better understand the basics of music formation and structure in addition to introducing me to genres in which I would not otherwise be interested. In a small way, my study of music has helped me to better understand myself and my history and has made me into a more critical and cultured listener and musician.
My Anthropology concentration has incorporated a great deal of cultural study, some archaeology, forensics and biology. My study of Anthropology has taught me to appreciate what other cultures have to bring to the table without being ethnocentric in my views. I've learned that different isn't necessarily bad or wrong, that it is just different.
My site of applied study is the Girl Scouts, Arizona Cactus-Pine Council. Academically, I intend to learn how to use the knowledge and skills that I have gained through my studies in an interdisciplinary manner and to gain real world experience that I can transfer into my post graduate studies and life. Personally, I expect to grow a lot from experience. I have already noticed a change in my attitude and demeanor. I have a greater deal of responsibility than I have ever had in my life and I have dozens of little girls and teenagers looking up to me.
This week was a very busy week for me. I had to make calls, to ensure that the girls were coming to program on Saturday, attend a staff meeting and Hispanic Awards Program, went shopping for supplies for Saturday's program and help one of our teenage girl scouts search for and call potential schools so that she can re-enroll into school. On Saturday, I facilitated a cultural craft activity where I had our youngest group, ages 5-11, make masks that represented positive things about themselves and their lives. I began with an introduction, explaining to them the many different functions that masks serve in cultures around the world and then I had them begin. After they were they had completed their craft, we had a gallery and fashion show, set to music. The girls had a lot of fun and hopefully they learned quite a bit too. I also was assigned a route and had to transport the girls to and from program.
Very few of my responsibilities had to do with my major. However, through the program that I conducted on Saturday and my interaction and conversation with the girls, I try to introduce them to a new and more opened way of viewing the world and how it relates to their lives.
At my applied studies site, I work with girls who have mothers in prison, who are living in juvenile detention centers and group homes and who are transitioning back into a regular teenage life. Through the programs that we put together ranging from drug prevention to self esteem to cultural awareness and as mentors to these girls we are trying to give them better options and access to resources so that they can become productive members of society. I intend to continue to this line of work after graduation and hopefully maintain ties and grow within the Girl Scout organization. After graduation, I intend to continue my education at Arizona State in the Master's of Social Work program and eventually work with at risk youth and families.. This experience will definitely help me to accomplish those goals.
Music has always been a very important part of my life and environment since my family consists of several musicians and a composer and lyricist. I continued on in the tradition by teaching myself guitar and piano and doing what comes most naturally to me, singing. My music concentration has helped me to better understand the basics of music formation and structure in addition to introducing me to genres in which I would not otherwise be interested. In a small way, my study of music has helped me to better understand myself and my history and has made me into a more critical and cultured listener and musician.
My Anthropology concentration has incorporated a great deal of cultural study, some archaeology, forensics and biology. My study of Anthropology has taught me to appreciate what other cultures have to bring to the table without being ethnocentric in my views. I've learned that different isn't necessarily bad or wrong, that it is just different.
My site of applied study is the Girl Scouts, Arizona Cactus-Pine Council. Academically, I intend to learn how to use the knowledge and skills that I have gained through my studies in an interdisciplinary manner and to gain real world experience that I can transfer into my post graduate studies and life. Personally, I expect to grow a lot from experience. I have already noticed a change in my attitude and demeanor. I have a greater deal of responsibility than I have ever had in my life and I have dozens of little girls and teenagers looking up to me.
This week was a very busy week for me. I had to make calls, to ensure that the girls were coming to program on Saturday, attend a staff meeting and Hispanic Awards Program, went shopping for supplies for Saturday's program and help one of our teenage girl scouts search for and call potential schools so that she can re-enroll into school. On Saturday, I facilitated a cultural craft activity where I had our youngest group, ages 5-11, make masks that represented positive things about themselves and their lives. I began with an introduction, explaining to them the many different functions that masks serve in cultures around the world and then I had them begin. After they were they had completed their craft, we had a gallery and fashion show, set to music. The girls had a lot of fun and hopefully they learned quite a bit too. I also was assigned a route and had to transport the girls to and from program.
Very few of my responsibilities had to do with my major. However, through the program that I conducted on Saturday and my interaction and conversation with the girls, I try to introduce them to a new and more opened way of viewing the world and how it relates to their lives.
At my applied studies site, I work with girls who have mothers in prison, who are living in juvenile detention centers and group homes and who are transitioning back into a regular teenage life. Through the programs that we put together ranging from drug prevention to self esteem to cultural awareness and as mentors to these girls we are trying to give them better options and access to resources so that they can become productive members of society. I intend to continue to this line of work after graduation and hopefully maintain ties and grow within the Girl Scout organization. After graduation, I intend to continue my education at Arizona State in the Master's of Social Work program and eventually work with at risk youth and families.. This experience will definitely help me to accomplish those goals.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
First Week at My Internship.
My first official day at my internship was Wednesday. I worked about 7 hours and it was a pretty easy day. I was introduced to everyone within the Girl Scout Cactus Pine Council that was available, then settled into my work routine by making my first call to introduce myself and also to touch base with someone that I will be working with in a couple months on a program called Baby Camp. This is a weekend planned in Prescott for teenage mothers, where they learn parenting skills and also gain some personal insight and strength, through workshops, lectures, hikes and ropes courses. I am told it is a rather intense experience but I am excited to take part in its planning and coordination. After lunch, I responded to journals. This is a pen pal type activity where the girls in our Tuesday night program are able to express themselves to us and tell us what is going on in their lives and are able to ask any questions about the activities and presentation that they participated in the previous night's program and also any general concerns they may have. This was quite eye opening and left me wondering for a while if I could truly handle this type of work. It will be a lot more difficult than I initially expected. However, I intend to take it day by day and put my best foot forward. Later, I began planning for next Saturday's program with our youngest group of girl scouts. So far, I intend to start off with an ice breaker, "Human Bingo" to get the girls better aquainted with each other and then follow that with a cultural craft activity, though I'm not sure how I am going to put that together quite yet. I met them a couple weeks ago and they are really sweet. I am really looking forward to seeing my first program get under way. I hope that it is a success. On Thurday, I went into work for a two hours but only did inventory for Baby Camp and a bit of office work. Program this Saturday was cancelled because of the holiday. I'm very excited to begin my work week on Tuesday.
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