Why CSW?
Short answer: Why not?
Long answer:
Hello, my name is Mayon Marcelino, and the reason why I’m in the Community Support Worker program is because of something that happened on April 20, 2014.
Did that sound a little dramatic? Sorry about that. Don’t worry. Nothing bad happened. I wasn’t involved in any car accident or anything scary like that.
April 20, 2014 was Easter Sunday, and a new friend invited me over for dinner with her family and friends.
When I say new friend, I mean really new as in I forgot her name and I’ve only met her once before and we talked for about 5 minutes. Maybe friend is the wrong word then. Acquaintance, maybe?
Perhaps an introverted person would say “no thank you” to the invitation under those circum-stances. As a semi-introverted person it did cross my mind to say no. I didn’t really know the person who was inviting me, but at the same time, I do get hungry sometimes, it felt good to be invited and I felt it would be rude to say no. So I said yes to the invitation.
What’s the worst that can happen if you are invited by someone you don’t really know to a place you’ve never been? (Nevermind don’t answer that!)
There was a lot of food and everyone I met was very nice. After dinner, I had a conversation with one of the family friends and the topic of work came up. He shared some information about his profession that I was very surprised to hear. He said that he considers his work to be a form of ministry.
I found that interesting because I work as a youth minister in my church and I consider what I do to be a form of ministry as well. The more information he shared about his job the more I agreed with him.
He explained that his job was to support male adults with autism. The way he described his work led me to believe that it can be a mentally and physically challenging profession at times, but it’s also incredibly rewarding to serve others, empower people, and be a source of consistency and support in their life.
I’ve always wanted to serve and help people. I’ve always wanted to find great joy and meaning in what I do. I decided that whatever my next job would be, it would be one where I am supporting, caring and showing compassion for people.
I left that Easter Sunday dinner party a rejuvenated person. I had new purpose and new meaning in my life. I did research on different programs and different schools and I chose the Community Support Worker program at Sternberg College.
I haven’t always been open to change, but I’m glad I am now. I hope everyone can experience fulfillment, happiness, and true meaning in their life’s work. I’m very fortunate to have found this program, this school and this profession.
Let the journey begin.
