Hoyos Lopez 1

Diana Hoyos Lopez

HS 411

Dr. Sporl

9 August 2021

Self-Evaluation

I have always possessed a passion for helping the Latinx community since High School.

As a member of the community myself, I witness the disparities and adversities my community

faces, especially in regard with access to healthcare. As such, I was able to empathize with every

client that came to seek help under PASOs. Even so, when we had clients come in that did not

identify as Latinx, I still treated them with the same level of respect and dignity. I’ve also

realized that my social and networking skills have improved significantly, and most of the

conversations I held with my co-workers and clients felt natural and engaging. Besides my

confidence in utilizing empathetic skills, I was also confident in my creative abilities. Though I

don’t often acknowledge my creative side, I came to realize that this aspect of myself proved to

be very useful in my work. I found it easy to organize and build our resources guide, create

engaging presentations, and help my supervisor build flyers and/or brochures. I still love projects

involving design and editing, and I was happy to utilize these skills whenever I could.

Without a doubt, one big challenge I encountered while working for PASOs included

taking initiative working independently on the job. Most of the time, my supervisor was not able

to be present in the office due to circumstances out of her control. Though she wanted to guide

me more through certain assigned projects, I had to learn how to handle my own projects and

essentially test my creativity skills. For example, while I was working on recruiting community
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resources regarding clothing and food assistance, I found myself at a stop. I had completed all

my research and calling the organizations to confirm the services they provided, so I didn’t know

where to go from there. My supervisor wasn’t present during this time, and I couldn’t ask for her

help. So, through the guidance and suggestion of a co-worker of mine, I decided to extend my

project by researching more community resources and combining the information my co-worker

gathered into one big resource guide. I quickly learned to “keep the ball rolling”, especially in

this organization where there are few employees tackling many clients.

Another challenge I faced was working on my assertive skills. Unfortunately, because of

my short time at PASOs, I couldn’t work much on improving my assertiveness skills. Moreover,

I couldn’t necessarily handle a client’s case all on my own, so one-on-one conservations weren’t

held. However, I took every chance I could to observe how my supervisor and co-workers talked

with the clients. One situation I noticed that happened often where my co-workers had to be

assertive towards their clients included meeting deadlines to submit important applications (E.X.:

medical insurance applications and WIC applications). Some clients would forget about filling

out these forms, so my co-workers would emphasize to them the importance of submitting their

applications so that they can access and receive the medical help they need. Or, some clients

found difficulty in filling out certain requirements and required additional guidance. As a result,

my co-workers would again emphasize the importance of filling out the paperwork but assured

them that if they did require additional help, they could stop by the office to receive assistance.

Overall, though I wasn’t able to directly practice my assertive skills, I was able to learn through

the conversations my other co-workers held with their patients by analyzing their level of tone

and the importance of continuing to empathize with the client despite being assertive.
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Though working independently as an intern frustrated me at times, it has helped me grow

as a helping professional by realizing that this line of work is certainly demanding. I always

acknowledged the fact that social work can be very draining and fast-paced but being able to

experience it first-hand really put me in perspective. Nevertheless, I still want to continue

working in this field and help the Latinx community access medical care. I am open towards

attending graduate school, so that I can continue building a focus on Public Health. I also plan to

be certified as a Community Health Worker next summer to build my experience and skills as a

Human Services worker. Moreover, I think it would be useful to be certified as a Medical

Interpreter so that I can communicate effectively with my future clients. By the end of my

educational career, I visualize myself connecting members of the Latinx community with any

healthcare resources they need, as well as helping educate the community on any healthcare

topics and concerns.