What Makes a Professional? essay

I have interviewed Ms. Angela Barnes about her career in a day care center for kids. I have asked her several questions regarding her career as a social worker. Ms. Barnes is a 36 year old mother and has one child Daniel which is already 12 years old. She has been teaching in the day care center since 1996. I had written the questions that I had asked her and the answers that she had given me. Question No. 1: Do you believe you are successful? Why or why not? I believe that I am very successful with my career right now. Being successful does not only mean that you have lots of money.

Looking at how the kids learn their lesson and develop moral values is an indication that I have been successful in teaching them what they need. Question No. 2: Do you believe you are living your `purpose`? What is your purpose? Yes, I have a purpose in life and t hat is to pass on the knowledge that I have learned from the budding minds of the next generation. Through caring for them in this day care center I am able to live this purpose. Question No. 3: Do you believe you were born to work with children or do you believe you should be working in another field?

At first I do not believe that I was suppose to work with children, I was a sales person before. However, when I gave birth to my son, Daniel that was the time when I had realized that I think I am capable of working with children. This had become my passion and I had also become devoted to teaching them since then. Question No. 4: What makes you believe you should work with children or within a field concerning children? I believe I should work with them because children I know that I can share the knowledge and the values that they must learn to go through life. I also like children.

A child is very easy to teach because they do not have any idea yet on what is out there. I feel very honored to teach them the ABC’s and the numbers 1 to 10. Question No. 5: Do you (really) think you know how to relate to children and/or provide the services they need? I think that I can easily relate to children and provide what they need. Having a child had made awakened my lighter side and had helped me relating to the children. Children are very transparent you can easily tell if they are angry or sad, if they cannot learn the lesson or if they are having a hard time on learning.

A person must be sensitive in order to relate to them. I believe that I had become sensitive to their needs and spending a lot of time with them is what I am doing in order to teach them what they need. Question No. 6: How easy or difficult is it for you to work with people in general? There are times that it is hard to work with people because some of the parents of the child thinks that it is better to do this or do that, especially if the child is an only child. I am trying to explain that it is necessary to teach their children discipline and learn lessons that is necessary in grade school.

There are times that parents of the children pulls out their child because they think that the center does not provide the right things that is necessary. However, there are also parents that are happy with the progress of their children. These are the times that it is very easy to deal with people. Question No. 7: What bothers you the most when trying to commuicate with people–especially on the job? Well, if a particular parent think of the center or me as a person who is not qualified or capable of teaching their children I feel really bothered.

You cannot please everybody however, if they see me as a very incompetent teacher it is really an insult for me and there are times that I need to control myself when dealing with these type of people Question No. 8: If you now feel you should be working within another career, what is that career and what talents do you have concerning that field? As of now, I cannot see myself working within another career. However, I may consider practicing my skills in marketing. It could be fun working in an advertising agency where you need to express your ideas in order to promote a particular product.

Since I am a marketing graduate and having been able to relate with children had made the generation of ideas easier because it seems like I went back to being a kid full of ideas and interests. Question No. 9: What are your greatest weaknesses? What are your greatest strengths? My greatest weakness is that I do not like people telling me that I am not competent with the job or that I am not qualified to handle a particular job at hand. Experiences like this kills my motivation and at times affects how I do my job. My greatest strength is that I am very approachable.

For the parents and the children, it is easy for them to tell me what they feel and what particular areas do I need to provide further. Question No. 10: Do you feel you usually function as a professional? Where do you think you sometimes `fall short`? I usually function as a professional because I do not go for favorites and preferences for children. As a professional a teacher must think of her students as equals. Even if you have a niece or a nephew in the class, they must not be treated special because the other children do not like it if their teachers have a special favorite.

However, there are times that you could not help but have a favorite especially if the child is vivacious and is eager to learn. Question No. 11: what have you learned about yourself, your gifts, beliefs etc.? Since I had this career, I had found out that it is my calling. Before I cannot see myself as a day care worker but then my motherly instincts kicked in when I saw my child and since then I saw every child that I am teaching as my son or daughter. Relating to them is very easy because they are honest and can be easily taught. Question No.

12: Where do you want your career to now go? Maybe five years from now, I would like to have a day care center of my own. Seeing how a day care center operates and what type of challenges must a day care owner face had shown me the way for this dream. Question No. 13: What steps are you going to take to now move closer to where you want to be within your career? I am trying to understand everything about the day care center, from the enrollment to the schooling until graduation. It is very fulfilling to see the students you have taught to grow as good kids.

Maybe when I already learned the things that I have to and if I had already the money to establish a day care then I would be opening it in no time. Question NO. 14: Do you think others make it difficult for you to have success on the job or do you think your own attitude has hindered your success? So far, I have never met anyone in this day care center to stop me from being successful. However, a special case is the evaluation of the parents. There are some who do not see me as a very competent teacher because they tell me that their child is “special” and they need to be attended to if they need something.

Well, there are always contrasts but I do not find this as a means to hinder me from being successful in building up my own day care center. Some parents find my job very satisfactory and this would really help me in promoting my own day care center one day. A professional must always see himself as successful to feel motivated as per the replies of Mrs. Barnes. The motivation of Mrs. Barnes had helped her stick to her career. Professionals have their own calling and if they see themselves as someone who contributes greatly to society then they would stick to their job and do it well.