Personal and Professional Development

cats. My knowledge regarding cats grew gradually and I was capable of looking after them properly and thought to myself that this is all they need to live happily. After a kitten fell ill, I took him to the vets to get him treated. After this event I learnt more about my cats needs. I had to get them immunized and vaccinated to protect them from fatal diseases. I also got them neutered to stop unwanted pregnancies. I have had the opportunity to see and learn myself of how cats breed and reproduce, and I have all the beneficial knowledge needed to look after cats and keep them healthy and happy. I have a strong relationship with my cats built up with love and trust. SKILLSDuring our P.E sessions in school I used to take part in the badminton sport more than any other sport. I enjoyed it and even though I was a beginner and not very good with playing I always tried and enjoyed it. My rackets used to bend and the shuttlecocks I used always ripped apart. I always lost and yet I continued as I found it to be so much fun. After gaining so much experience in badminton in school I began playing with family and friends after school. My skills were developing gradually and I was told I was doing very well and shall improve if I continue to practice as I was already. This boosted up my confidence making me feel I was a good player and have progressed. When I am in a badminton match, I know I am capable of winning. I have won many times and have gained the skills needed to use the equipment properly. During sessions many people ask for me to join their teams as they know I am able to defeat any enemy and have the potential to win. I am very confident and enjoy playing this sport. In school I was very independent and disliked working with other people. I never was happy about relying on other people to help me succeed. During group work I never participated and remained silent and unnoticed. I also was like this due to my confidence level being very low indeed. I hated working with other people and was too nervous to raise my point across. In the course we started off taking part in a lot of group work. I was not happy about this. However, I gradually began to get used to it plus the people I worked with were hard – working and very helpful. I received a lot of help and support from my team members and we all did as we were told. Many instances came when I had to lead my group, and I was surprised to succeed in doing this.  I have developed in my team – working skills. I do not dislike it as much as I did before and feel it is just as easy as doing independent work. I prefer doing work on my own. However, I work effectively with team work just as much as with my own independent work. I believe this is a very crucial skill I have developed as team work is necessary within the social care sector and will help me with my learning. PRACTICEI have been very fond of children ever since I was young. However, I never had the chance to spend much time with them as I do not have many children in my family. I thought of them as angels and loved to look after them. I have in – laws as many of my siblings are married and have children. I have baby-sited many times and have enjoyed it. Everything that I had learnt was being put in to practice and I was widening my knowledge and skills with practice. Now from my practice I have learnt how it really feels to look after children. It is difficult and at times can be very stressful. However, from practice I have the required skills to babysit and find it quite enjoyable and it is a fun hobby of mines. I never had any interest in cooking and hated to spend my time cooking up any dish in the kitchen. My mom sometimes used to try to get me to learn how to cook. As I am the only daughter, I am the only one available to help my mom with her chores and the babysitting. However, I did all that I possibly could to avoid work at all times and even loved to spend extra time in school so I can get away from it all. I had no skills with the work and was not interested or determined to learn.  A short period of time came when my mom had to go abroad. This meant that I was the only girl in my family who can possibly do the house chores and feed my family. My dad is capable of doing so. However, he works long hours and has no time. So during this time I realized how essential it is for me to have basic cooking skills to use at times like this. No one had taught me to cook; I myself experimented and put all that I know into practice. I was not very good and no one enjoyed my food.Due to many family circumstances abroad, my parents had to take more frequent trips abroad. Mom taught me many new dishes and hints and tips. She said that I have learnt a lot the last time she went abroad and insured me that I am capable. She was correct. I am told my family cannot tell whether I have been cooking or my mom. I have gained new skills and from experience and practice I have progressed into making more advanced and complex recipes and dishes. BELIEFSI have been brought up to believe that there is one God and Islam is my religion. I have not been very religious in my early years and did not take it too seriously. The school I went to was an Islamic school and by going there I deepened my knowledge regarding Islam and my faith grew.As I have been given an insight into Islam I became very interested in it and researched many various areas of Islam. I began to practice upon my knowledge and really enjoyed it. I felt content and at peace whenever I did any act for the sake of Islam. My life changed and I loved it.My life changed dramatically, mentally with the way I think, and physically by my appearance and the way I behave. It is not easy; I do struggle as there are so many temptations in society.However, I look at every aspect of life in the Islamic perspective and dedicate my time and wealth for Islam. VALUESWhen it came to the subject of God, I did not pay much attention to it and did not really like to mention it. I knew very well deep down inside me that I should be concentrating on God as He is my true value. However, I had other things in mind regarding worldly goals and desires which distracted me from my ultimate goal and I did not think of it to be as important as it is. It was just the background of my life.As my knowledge widened about God, I became more spiritual and my desires for this world began to fade. The reason is because I knew no matter how much success and happiness I have in this world, I will still have to face my ultimate fate. The life I have after death is eternal, and so it is important to make sure I stay happy in the life that will last forever rather than the life which is only temporary.As I began to get into this state of mind, I began to follow and practice this value. Now that I do this, I feel much more peaceful and content. So when something difficult comes up, I do not look at it to be too difficult as some people do as I know this is a small and unimportant portion of my life. My true life is the life where my values are being practiced and only by doing this does my heart be at rest.Another value I had was to be with my family at all times and to do my best for them and never produce any barriers and fallouts. My family was first priority and I never paid any attention to friends. Friends were people I found irrelevant and I never wished to get close to any other person apart from my family. I could trust only family and no one outside if it. So, in school I never made any friends and was happy to be by myself and be unnoticed and left out. Soon after I became depressed as I was suffering from loneliness and wished to stay at home with my family all the time. After having such an awful experience, I realized that friends play an important role in life. I tried to get close to many people and I felt content when I was with others. I noticed the change inside of me and I found it easy to socialize more with others out of my family. I knew how essential it was to put friends in some part of my life; I did not hesitate to do so. A new value crept up into my life, that value was to have fun and spend time with people from all walks of life, could be family, and it could be friends outside my family who can be trusted just as much as how a family member can be trusted.My life has changed dramatically. I feel much more peaceful and complete from within. I have a lot of people to help me and share their love for me. I find it easy to socialize with others regardless of their race, religion, and background. I am always with people whether I am in college or at home. If friends turn me down I have family and same vice versa. Whatever way it is, I know there will always be someone there who can help me and can be trusted. Friends are an important value in my life as I have learnt from experience the changes they can make in ones life. CAREER ASPIRATIONSFrom the school years of nursery to the end of year six, my career ambition was to become a fully qualified and professional teacher. I loved all my teachers and always played school games with my friends and I always was willing to be the teacher. My parents also praised me and insured that I can become one and will if I try hard in school.  I was very young when I decided to become a teacher and I did not know of any other career I can go into apart from teaching, and I think this is what made me want to go into this career pathway. I thought that I was going to become a teacher no matter what.After school I began to look at the large range of career pathways and all the various areas one can go into. Many new and interesting jobs I found which were first unheard of had caught my eyes. I found science a subject of my interest in school, and so was told by family and friends that I should go into a career involving science. I first was interested in nursing. As I am very fond of animals, my next choice was to become a vet! However, my interest in sciences died off and I did not do well in my GCSE’s. So from all these choices, my final decision was to go into the health and social care sector!I have In mind the career opportunities I have after studying and successfully passing this course. After studying it I can go into anything within social work and work with people from all ages. I first wanted to work with children as I adore them. My decision at the moment is to become a social worker and to work with children from babies to adolescence. I change my mind often as to what career path I would like to take, and for this reason I have a feeling my choices might again change into another course which can be completely different and opposite to what I am studying at the moment.