My Worldview as a Christian
At one point in time I had no idea what a worldview was, which made it extremely hard to figure out what mine could be. So, first I decided to find what worldview meant. A worldview is how people view the world. A person’s worldview consists of the values, ideas or the fundamental belief system that determines their attitudes, beliefs and ultimately, actions. Typically, this includes their view of issues such as the nature of God, man, the meaning of life, nature, death, and right and wrong. We begin developing our worldview as young children, first through interactions within our family, then in social settings such as school and church, and from our companions and life experiences.
I would like to think that I am a Christian and most times I do view the world from a biblical standpoint. So, based on Sires labels I would put myself in the Christian theism category. I believe my God is all powerful, loving, just, and an awesome God who exists in the trinity of son, father, and holy spirit. My life is centered on my religious and traditional faith. I trust my religious authority (bible, pastor, and church community) to guide me where I should be, because God’s word is always true.
God is my truth, so most of my values center around being more like Him. When speaking on values I tend to place family and community above all, rather than focus on myself and what I want. Taking care of others is what Jesus gave His life for, so it only seemed fair to follow in His steps by giving more to people than taking.
Life Experiences: Family and Friends
It is safe to say that I was not raised in a perfect family, but who can honestly say they did? My up bringing consisted of complete dysfunction. At an early age I knew life was not fair to anyone, and that it would be up to me to get out of the black hole I was beginning to sink into. I was born to a semi stable woman, who at the time had no clue as to how to raise four children. Being that she was only 20 and single, with four kids in the 90s made it quite hard to have a proper upbringing. I knew what the word ‘struggle’ meant at a very young age.
My mother did the best she could to provide for all of us at the time but in the end, it just wasn’t enough. So, we were taken away from her. My siblings and I were sent to live with our grandmother. My grandmother played a key role in how my life ended up being shaped. Grandma was an “over the top” Christian woman. She lived and breathed every word in the Bible. At the beginning it was too much to handle. I never had to sit in a church for hours and days at a time, I didn’t have to read the bible every day and explain what I ha read to others. It was different and a complete culture shock for me. But having God introduced into my life was a big step away from the sinking black hole.
My grandmother brought God into my life, but she also left out other important things, like school. When the school situation came to light my siblings and I were once again moved out of the home. Thankfully, at the time my mother had gotten her life together (and had three more kids) and was able to get us back instead of having to go into the system. With this move came more changes. First off, there were 2 new children and a husband in the picture. I had to thank God that he blessed my mother with a God-fearing man who had no problem accepting four more children into his life.
Joseph, my mother’s second husband helped me get my life on track. Although he was not my biological father he took care of me and the rest of my family like we were. It was no easy ride having to constantly move my life around, but this spot was the most long-term and beneficial as I ever had. So, as I said before Joseph was a God-fearing man. He chose to follow the lord blindly and he ended up with a wonderful life.
Joseph showed me that God is the creator and redeemer of mankind, God made everything, and He sustains everything. God is the Trinity. Which means God is three people. God is the person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. This was drilled into my head time and time again.
Life Experiences: SNU Program
After living the life I have, I came to the sudden conclusion that I needed to complete my education. Not only for me but for my children. I wanted them to know that even though mom had a hard upbringing she did not let that stop her from achieving her goals. Education was not much of a word within my family and I knew I had to change that. SNU provided the best opportunity for me to accomplish that goal. Throughout my 15-month experience with SNU I can honestly say that it has shown me a different side of myself that I did not know existed.
This program was a turning point for me. I have learned new things about myself that I could not articulate before I joined SNU, and there are two professors that I can thank for that. First, Mrs. Katrina, she was an amazing teacher. She was and is still there whenever I need her. She gave me support and confidence when I needed the booster. Mrs. Katrina helped me through the struggle of writing those insane LLP’s. She showed me that it is ok to trust myself. Her kindness for others was a blessing to see and made my value to help and support others more enhanced, she set an extraordinary example of kindness for me. I pride myself on being able to be there for others, even when I can not be there for myself. I have a “you before me” mentality.
The second teacher that greatly impacted my experience at SNU was Mr. John Bradly. I do not want to take anything from Mr. Bradly because he was an awesome teacher, but it was more so the class that helped transform my worldview. The class that Mr. Bradly taught was Family Coping with Crisis. In this class I was able to learn different ways to deal with crisis and cope in a healthy way that would not destroy my family.
The Future
At the end of the way, I want to be recognizing as a successful person who achieved all the goals I planned and left a positive impression in people’s lives. I will have to work as hard as I can to get that recognition and I am willing to do what it takes to get that point. I approach everything in life with positive attitude and lots of enthusiasm. I strongly believe that I will be a successful person for the rest of my life. I want to start making my dreams come true with my degree from SNU.
I am majoring in Family Studies. My plan is to persuade my career in social work, preferable with the senior population. My degree which is from SNU is going to give me a lot of opportunities to make a difference in the social work field. After completing this third semester of my study, I am going to apply for jobs at senior centers or rehabilitation clinics. I want to start my career from the very first step. I want to improve my skills by learning everything there is to know about doing good for others. I am willing to do everything to be where I want to be. I also want to complete my studying by getting my MSW degree in clinical social work.
It was my deep interest in social work that made me to join and enjoy my program. But to further enjoy this line of work and keep gaining knowledge about it I want to work in the field of social work. College was a place that taught me arts and techniques about society but now I am looking for a place that will provide me a field where I can demonstrate my knowledge and gain greater hold on them by constant application. I am looking for an opportunity that will give me practical exposure of subject and also give me scope where I can better the situations by applying my social work skills. But while doing my job search, I will not forget my duties towards the society.
This assignment was one of the best assignments that I had to do, to be honest. It made me realize lots of things about my life. I never thought about where my life was going or what kind of chances I had in life, but now I know. Now, I know what I am going to do, what kind of things I will be able to do, and I have a career plan. I used to think that a career plan was something that people never followed, but I am willing to follow my entire plan and I hope it is going to be the best for me.
