"Remember, when you leave this earth you can take nothing with you that you have recieved, only what you have given"

     Today I am going to discuss something that really, really bothers me...People who do not get the importance of social work. If you don't already know I am a social work major with a minor in psychology. My goal in life is to work with children and teenagers who have been abused or neglegted, ultimately I want to be a counselor and voice for them.
     This is an issue that is extremely important to me; my mom was abused when she was younger and I have seen some of the consequences of that. In part, this post is a tribute to my mom, whose birthday was on Sunday. To be perfectly honest, my mom is one of my biggest role models. She has inspired me in so many ways; overcoming childhood abuse, losing her first husband at 22, as well as other big obstacles. Despite all this, she has been an amazing mother. We have had some pretty bad financial troubles throughout my life, my family can definitely not be considered "well off" but my parents have always provided me with as many opportunities as possible; there were always presents under the Christmas tree, always food in the fridge for me to eat, a house over my head, band fees paid, and asses worked off so I could go on my senior trip to Disney World. My mom in particular has always made an effort to be there for me. She loves me unconditionally, was never afraid to discuss sex and alcohol with me and never looked down on me. If I got in trouble, more often than not we would end up discussing what happened and why. There is a bad reputation that abused children grow up to be abusers,  but let me tell you, that is wrong. My mom in fact has gone on to work with abused women to try to help better their lives. She has also maintained a strong faith in God, which truly amazes me. I wish more than anything that my mom could see herself as the strong, beautiful woman that I see.
    With that being said, my goal in life is to ensure that as many children get help as they possibly can. My mom was turned away in High School when she tried to seek help; she is already an amzing person with they ways things turned out, I can't imagine how much MORE amazing she could be if that counselor had actually helped her. No child should ever be turned away. You could ignore a child and than come to realize the next day that they went home and were literally beaten to death. That child may have had the potential to be the scientist who found the cure for cancer, the next president, or even just the next big rockstar. I know this is a random topic, but the other day someone told me that I should "just change my major" to something that would allow me to get in state tution. I couldn't really talk back to this particular person, so I just kept my mouth shut...But now I'm opening it up. If you ever see someone in need, someone going through a tough time or in pain, help them. Reach out to someone. You don't need to be a counselor to bring some happiness to someones life. If you see that someone is really in need, don't be afraid to report it. You may just save someones life. For me, becoming a social worker is worth paying $30,000 a year for school and possibly joining the Air Force to cover those payments. I don't expect every person in the world to want to make sacrifices like that, but every single person should respect those who do.
    And mom, if you ever read this, you are my inspiration for everything that I do. I hope you don't mind that I have shared parts of your story, but I believe you can inspire others as well.