Systems
In the Human Services major, the importance of systems has been stressed greatly throughout all of our classes, especially our Core series. There are various systems that interact with one another and work to impact individuals as well as entire communities. I have learned that how a system functions greatly depends on the amount and quality of each and every input and output, and that each piece of a system, no matter how small, has an effect on the system as a whole; this is demonstrated by the butterfly effect, in which one small event can have a huge ripple effect through time. In the two years I have spent in this program, I have been able to learn not only about myself in ways I would not have otherwise learned, but I have also learned how I operate within other systems. This has shifted my way of thinking; I went from a “self” point of view to a “community” point of view, and I am now able to think about issues on a large scale. My focus has shifted from myself and how I’m effected by the world around me to how I’m affecting the world around me.
My first introduction to systems was in Introduction to Human Services (HSP 302), where our professor introduced us to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, something I would use throughout the rest of the program. This was my first real experience looking at all the larger systems that are part of my life. It wasn’t until Human Services Professionals and Personal Systems (HSP 301) that I began to really understand the importance of being aware of these different systems at the same time. This first thing I learned in this class was that we cannot learn if we are not uncomfortable, and that struck my attention. Never had I been in a class that pushed the boundaries of my comfort zone so hard. I walked into the major being an introvert and a recluse, but we were exposed to articles, videos and discussions that challenged us to look at ourselves from different angles. Learning about myself in this way opened a whole new door to larger systems that I had never thought about before; the more I learned and discovered about myself, the more I wanted to learn about others.
During the same class, we were given the assignment A Big Picture of Small Systems in which we chose a person we had read about or watched in a video and reflected on the systems in their life. I chose to write about Andrew from Hope’s Boy. In Hope’s Boy, Andrew gets taken from his mother and thrown into the foster care system; this book describes his experiences. I identified and explained two to three systems that influenced the person’s life. I picked to write about Andrew because his story was my first experience with the foster care system and his story was complicated. I explored all the main systems in Andrew’s life, as well as different concepts such as the butterfly effect, chaos theory, and self-organization. Through applying these concepts we had read about to another person’s life, I was able to better understand all the different ways that each system can affect an individual person, as well as how that individual person can affect other systems around them based on how they interact with others.
Although Human Services Professionals and Personal Systems allowed me to understand how systems work in the lives of individual people, it was Introduction to Human Services that allowed me to apply these concepts to a real world example; we wrote a paper on the history of a human services field or topic of our choosing. In this history, I included not only an accurate chronology of events and people who played an important role, but I also described how involved systems interacted with one another in a way that affected the progress (or lack thereof) for whatever field or topic we chose. Because of my interest in Hope’s Boy, I chose to talk about the foster care system in America. This assignment opened a whole new world of corruption for me, as I was forced to look into a system that has a negative reputation. Many of the children in foster care are separated from siblings and other family members without any explanation and put into a home where they are not properly cared for. The system in which these children are forced into is not a stable or healthy environment and can create many problems in adulthood. Along with my research of the foster care system as it is today, I was able to look into different movements that work to fix these problems. This assignment opened my mind to many issues, and looking at it from different viewpoints allowed me to understand the broad sense of systems.
The next two quarters of Junior Core focused on Interpersonal Systems (HSP 303) and Small Group Systems (305). This took the focus off of myself and turned it to how I interact and affect those around me, and how they affect me. These classes allowed me to build deeper relationships with those in my Junior Core group, and this helped me feel more comfortable with others in general. My whole life I have felt uncomfortable in my own body and around others, but the love and support I got from my Junior Core class encouraged me to open up and reach out. I learned that although we are all from very different places, we are also interconnected on many different levels. I no longer felt alone in my depression and suicidal ideations; many people had come from a broken family, and many had grown up with those who were not technically their family; I am not alone in feeling excluded and insecure. This helped me begin to find my place in my community and I began looking at how I was interconnected with those around me, as well as how I can affect them.
The transition to Senior Core was a difficult one because it opened an even bigger door than Junior Core: Organizational Systems (HSP 402), Community Systems (HSP 404), and Global Systems (HSP 406). I began to feel slightly overwhelmed knowing that I was connected to and could be affecting those around me in the community that I did not know. The most meaningful assignment for me thus far in Senior Core was the presentation I gave on To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA). In Community Systems, we were instructed to partner up and research a social movement. My partner and I immediately decided we wanted to look at depression and anxiety; it is something we both suffer from. TWLOHA has been a huge support in my life, and my partner and I were excited to learn more about the organization. Upon looking more into the history of TWLOHA, we were able to see the progression of how different systems worked to develop the organization. It started with one individual who was suffering from depression, self-harm, and addiction. She inspired another individual who then became a stable part of her life. This individual went on to start TWLOHA. Throughout the development of the organization, I was able to see bigger and bigger systems coming into play. Through this presentation, I was able to get a snapshot of all the systems we learned about, from individual to global. TWLOHA started with one story and has grown into an internationally recognized organization.
In our second quarter of Senior Core, we were assigned to read a memoir about an individual from a different background than our own. I chose to read Mindy Kaling’s memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns). Upon finishing the memoir, I wrote a memoir analysis discussing the different systems at play throughout Kaling’s life. I found this assignment difficult for multiple reasons: 1) when I was reading the memoir, I was not at all looking out for systems as I was often distracted by Kaling’s humor, and 2) Mindy Kaling is one of my idols, I look up to her in many respects, so I often found myself trying to relate to her which lead to a difficulty in finding faulty systems in her life. Overall this assignment taught me how to look at evidence more in-depth and apply critical thinking in order to see every different system at work in any given circumstance.
The core series has opened many doors for me, and I have gained a whole new appreciation for all communities around the world. Although I feel smaller in the world, I also feel less alone. I feel more part of each community I’m a member of, and it gives my life a new meaning. I have a new and burning passion to learn anything and everything I can about the world around me.
My first introduction to systems was in Introduction to Human Services (HSP 302), where our professor introduced us to Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory, something I would use throughout the rest of the program. This was my first real experience looking at all the larger systems that are part of my life. It wasn’t until Human Services Professionals and Personal Systems (HSP 301) that I began to really understand the importance of being aware of these different systems at the same time. This first thing I learned in this class was that we cannot learn if we are not uncomfortable, and that struck my attention. Never had I been in a class that pushed the boundaries of my comfort zone so hard. I walked into the major being an introvert and a recluse, but we were exposed to articles, videos and discussions that challenged us to look at ourselves from different angles. Learning about myself in this way opened a whole new door to larger systems that I had never thought about before; the more I learned and discovered about myself, the more I wanted to learn about others.
During the same class, we were given the assignment A Big Picture of Small Systems in which we chose a person we had read about or watched in a video and reflected on the systems in their life. I chose to write about Andrew from Hope’s Boy. In Hope’s Boy, Andrew gets taken from his mother and thrown into the foster care system; this book describes his experiences. I identified and explained two to three systems that influenced the person’s life. I picked to write about Andrew because his story was my first experience with the foster care system and his story was complicated. I explored all the main systems in Andrew’s life, as well as different concepts such as the butterfly effect, chaos theory, and self-organization. Through applying these concepts we had read about to another person’s life, I was able to better understand all the different ways that each system can affect an individual person, as well as how that individual person can affect other systems around them based on how they interact with others.
Although Human Services Professionals and Personal Systems allowed me to understand how systems work in the lives of individual people, it was Introduction to Human Services that allowed me to apply these concepts to a real world example; we wrote a paper on the history of a human services field or topic of our choosing. In this history, I included not only an accurate chronology of events and people who played an important role, but I also described how involved systems interacted with one another in a way that affected the progress (or lack thereof) for whatever field or topic we chose. Because of my interest in Hope’s Boy, I chose to talk about the foster care system in America. This assignment opened a whole new world of corruption for me, as I was forced to look into a system that has a negative reputation. Many of the children in foster care are separated from siblings and other family members without any explanation and put into a home where they are not properly cared for. The system in which these children are forced into is not a stable or healthy environment and can create many problems in adulthood. Along with my research of the foster care system as it is today, I was able to look into different movements that work to fix these problems. This assignment opened my mind to many issues, and looking at it from different viewpoints allowed me to understand the broad sense of systems.
The next two quarters of Junior Core focused on Interpersonal Systems (HSP 303) and Small Group Systems (305). This took the focus off of myself and turned it to how I interact and affect those around me, and how they affect me. These classes allowed me to build deeper relationships with those in my Junior Core group, and this helped me feel more comfortable with others in general. My whole life I have felt uncomfortable in my own body and around others, but the love and support I got from my Junior Core class encouraged me to open up and reach out. I learned that although we are all from very different places, we are also interconnected on many different levels. I no longer felt alone in my depression and suicidal ideations; many people had come from a broken family, and many had grown up with those who were not technically their family; I am not alone in feeling excluded and insecure. This helped me begin to find my place in my community and I began looking at how I was interconnected with those around me, as well as how I can affect them.
The transition to Senior Core was a difficult one because it opened an even bigger door than Junior Core: Organizational Systems (HSP 402), Community Systems (HSP 404), and Global Systems (HSP 406). I began to feel slightly overwhelmed knowing that I was connected to and could be affecting those around me in the community that I did not know. The most meaningful assignment for me thus far in Senior Core was the presentation I gave on To Write Love On Her Arms (TWLOHA). In Community Systems, we were instructed to partner up and research a social movement. My partner and I immediately decided we wanted to look at depression and anxiety; it is something we both suffer from. TWLOHA has been a huge support in my life, and my partner and I were excited to learn more about the organization. Upon looking more into the history of TWLOHA, we were able to see the progression of how different systems worked to develop the organization. It started with one individual who was suffering from depression, self-harm, and addiction. She inspired another individual who then became a stable part of her life. This individual went on to start TWLOHA. Throughout the development of the organization, I was able to see bigger and bigger systems coming into play. Through this presentation, I was able to get a snapshot of all the systems we learned about, from individual to global. TWLOHA started with one story and has grown into an internationally recognized organization.
In our second quarter of Senior Core, we were assigned to read a memoir about an individual from a different background than our own. I chose to read Mindy Kaling’s memoir Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me (And Other Concerns). Upon finishing the memoir, I wrote a memoir analysis discussing the different systems at play throughout Kaling’s life. I found this assignment difficult for multiple reasons: 1) when I was reading the memoir, I was not at all looking out for systems as I was often distracted by Kaling’s humor, and 2) Mindy Kaling is one of my idols, I look up to her in many respects, so I often found myself trying to relate to her which lead to a difficulty in finding faulty systems in her life. Overall this assignment taught me how to look at evidence more in-depth and apply critical thinking in order to see every different system at work in any given circumstance.
The core series has opened many doors for me, and I have gained a whole new appreciation for all communities around the world. Although I feel smaller in the world, I also feel less alone. I feel more part of each community I’m a member of, and it gives my life a new meaning. I have a new and burning passion to learn anything and everything I can about the world around me.