WHO I AM AS A PROFESSIONAL
- As a professional in the helping field I strive to practice empathy, patience, honesty, courage, and respect. I do not intervene my personal life with my career. I respect diversity and encourage uniqueness in my clients and those in the workplace. I approach clients with compassion and an open heart. I handle situations based on ethics and responsibility.
PERSONAL GOALS
- I plan to be a life-long learner as a Family Life Educator to gain as much knowledge and skill possible to best serve my clients.
- I plan to continue to search and explore opportunities that will shape and broaden my career.
- I plan to step outside of my comfort zone in experiences and learning to be able to provide help to a wide variety of clients.
FAMILY
- The definition of family can be twisted and changed by each person. My own perception of family is two or more people that are related by blood, marriage, or adoption. I also believe that family can be defined by the love between people. There are so many cases were people, who are not bonded by blood, marriage, or adoption, still consider each other as family. Personally I have seen cases where a person who is not legally the parent, will act as a mother or father of a child. In these cases, that person is still considered family whether they are legally considered that or not. As a professional I have to be observant when working with families because every family structure is different. I will remember that every person has a different perception and idea of what is means to be a family.
- Family is very important in so many ways. A person’s family shows the history of who they are and can describe why they are the way that they are. For a child, family is where the life begins. It includes who is there for them, who loves and supports them, and who their care is coming from. Family is the basis for the child’s future. In a good family structure, they are the people who are going to be there for you and who will support you in what you do. They are there to help celebrate the ups of life and to comfort you during the downs of life.
STRONGEST CFLE CONTENT AREAS
- Two of my strongest content areas are “Interpersonal Relationships” and “Human Growth and Development across the Lifespan”. I believe that in my career, working on interpersonal relationships is what will develop my connections with clients and others who I will work with. It is the basis for what I build on. Having the knowledge of human growth and development is what helps me and will help me to be able to work with people of all ages. These content areas would not be my strongest if it weren’t for my strengths of communication, authenticity, and the thirst for continual learning.
CFLE CONTENT AREAS TO IMPROVE
- Two content areas that I continue to improve in are “Family Law and Public Policy” and “Family Life Education Methodology”. I plan to improve these through my continual education. Laws and policies continue to have changes made which requires continual growth as a professional to better serve clients. Improvement and growth of these content areas will continue as I advance in my career.
SHORT-TERM and LONG-TERM GOALS
- My short-term goal as a doula is to finish my certification to become a birth doula through DONA. I will continue to go to trainings and workshops as they come up. These trainings will include new findings in the birthing, laboring, and health world. As a long-term goal I plan to begin my certification to become a midwife. I plan to get involved with the hospital personnel and the health organizations within the community.
ERIKA JUST 