My name is Sheila Davis. I need to provide you with
some information about my life before I tell you why I became a social worker. I
have 4 children, two boys and 2 girls. I have 2 grandchildren, one boy age 6
and one girl who is 18 months. My boys were the ones to have kids and not my
girls. This was very surprising to me. I was a single parent who basically raised
all four of my children with little help from the father. Just so you know he
died in 2005. We were married for nine years and I think most of those years I
was subjected to abuse. My kids are all adults now and live their own lives. I recently
lost one of my sons to a vehicle accident and spend as much time as I can with
the remaining three. I have not been able to see my grandson since the accident
but I am currently working on that matter. Raising my kids was tough and I did
some things I am not proud of but we managed to get through it. I learned along
the way and I think my children turned out okay. They have their problems and I
blame myself because of the lifestyle I chose to live. I realize this now and
this has been the reason I became a social worker. I want to help those
families and children who are experiencing some of the things I put my children
through. I sit back and study my kids and have learned that they show the
effects of the abuse. They are living proof that they were affected. I want to
make sure the parents are aware that what they are doing right now will affect their
children when they become adults. I have
been working as a social worker for five years and before that I managed
housing. I discovered while I was managing houses I was also connected and had
immediate contact with the lives of the tenants. So in a sense I was doing
social work then. I have an associate degree in social science which I received
in 1991 and I am starting my BA this semester in social work. You could say I
am doing it backwards because I am already a social worker but have no education
pertaining to it. I have the life skills though and I think in this job it
carries more weight than the formal education. My goal is to continue to work
for child welfare because I enjoy what I do. Later, I might work on getting my
LCSW. I am apprehensive to learning the formal education because I am afraid I will
fail. I have anxiety right now because it feels like I am carrying a full load
and it has been a long time since I have carried a full load. I work full time
and worry about not having enough time to complete all of the assignments when
they are due. I am proud of myself for continuing with my education even though
it is very scary. That about sums it up for me except one more thing, I have a
great relationship with the tribes as my children are ¼ Karuk. My oldest
daughter weaves beautiful baskets the traditional way. I help her gather materials.
This is a tough job.
