Thursday, February 10, 2011

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” - Mahatma Gandhi



Photo: Pleated Jeans

People ask me all the time: "Why do you want to go into social work? You know there's no money in that, right?" For the record, yes, I'm aware. But as for the "why" question, it has been a bit difficult to articulate. But, just like in Gandhi's statement above, my decision to go into a field to help others has actually led to some revelations about myself.


So, here: I chose social work because its principles, ethics, and values most closely align with how I want to conduct business. While I don't know what sect I'll ultimately go into (though I have a pretty clear vision for now...), the fact of the matter is that social work emphasizes human relations skills, and any profession that does not involve other humans is not a profession for me.


In other news, I found this map above, and literally laughed out loud. I mean, poor North Dakota! Ugliest residents? And Ohio? Full of nerds! And my current state of Louisiana boasting Gonorrhea - lovely. But as I laughed, I thought, what a gold mine for my fellow social workers. Everyone seems to have a specific population they'd like to work with, so here it is ladies and gentlemen, laid out in full color display. As funny as the map is, however, it is also pretty sad. What does this map say about our country? About ourselves? 


So, true to my theme, what are your interpretations? Is your state's label representative? For more information about the research used to create this map, check out Pleated Jeans.

2 comments:

  1. Standing "O" Rach. !! Service work is, and should be the foundation of our being. Without experience, strength, and hope, from our personal experiences, principals,and traditions,there would be no yard stick to gauge our ethics, and accountability. I know without service work in my life, i would be empty today !!

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  2. To be honest, I just want to know who actually conducted the research to find out which state had the highest rate of "bestiality."

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