1. Legacy of learning junior year core
By Jennye Cooper

2. Before Human Services Where was I ? How did I choose Human Services?
Before Human Services, I was a junior at University of Washington studying Spanish. Unfortunately, due to huge increases in tuition and the commute, I had to figure something else out.
How did I choose Human Services?
In the very beginning of college I remember wanting to study human resources, but was discouraged due to the math associated with it. My running start counselor at EVCC said it sounded like I should be in Human Services and not Human Resources, so when I decided to change programs, I researched HS and decided it was right for me. Now I will be able to use my HS with Spanish, which has been my goal!

3. I took this picture for a photo assignment in HSP 302
What is Human Services?
It’s funny to me that I still get the confused look when I tell people I am studying human services. It’s such a vast field that there’s really no right answer to this question.
Here are a few things it could be
Human Resources, which is the most interesting area for me
Social Services
Customer Service
Outreach/Client Support
Counseling
Education (teaching, advising, mentoring)-also another area which interests me
And so many more areas
I took this picture for a photo assignment in HSP 302

4. What is Human Services
After almost completing my junior year of this program, I feel that I have gained a lot of knowledge. In the “classroom”, but also through practicum courses.
Here are a few brief topics I’ve learned about:
Diversity
Systems Theory
Case Management
Interviewing for HS
And through my practicum placement,
Fire prevention and Life Safety

5. Learning from Systems Courses
We have learned and hopefully the rest of you have received an impact from HSP 301, 302 and 305. I know I have, because I have been able to notice the different types of communication in the field. Communication relates to HS in so many ways. So, how does Communication relate to HS?
Well, it relates to any profession really, but specifically HS. This profession is so communication based, especially between coworkers and clients. There are many types of communication that are involved in HS including and within these types of communication are systems: Personal, Interpersonal, and Small Group.
First before going into all of these types of systems I will define “Systems Theory”.
According to a York University (2005) website systems theory is, “an entity (e.g. the human body) to the properties of its parts or elements (e.g. organs or cells), systems theory focuses on the arrangement of and relations between the parts which connect them into a whole (cf. holism).”
Now my reaction to systems theory at first was, What? What does that even mean?
Systems Theory is essentially a person , agency (place), or thing (science materials) that work together to create some kind of partnership with another individual, agency, group of people/agencies, or even some science material (way over my head).

6. Personal Systems 1st quarter
Personal systems are related to one person’s self. This means that a person has systems in their lives (people-family and friend, animals, jobs, hobbies, etc) that make that person unique.
In the first quarter, we all took HSP-301 and all learned about what personal systems are and maybe investigated a little about ourselves to create a presentation.
Working on this presentation helped me learn more about myself, and I know that may sound silly, but I am still very indecisive about my career path.
Different aspects of my personal system would be my family, friends, animals, photography, my job with the fire department, my love for Spanish, etc.

7. Interpersonal Systems 2nd Quarter
What is Interpersonal Communication?
According to Stewart (2012), “the term interpersonal labels the kind of communication that happens when the people involved talk and listen in ways that maximize the presence of the personal” (pg.36).
Interpersonal Communication has a lot of do with individual relationships with a good friend or someone special.
I have one really good best friend, who I’ve known since elementary school, and he is just always there for me!
However, I don’t have anyone special in my life because I am just trying to get my education over with first.

8. Group Systems 3rd Quarter
Group systems can be interaction with a team of co-workers, family, or just professional work with groups.
I had the opportunity this quarter to work in a group, and it was very successful. We all contributed and worked together to make important decisions, and I would definitely work with all of them all over again
Word of advice for group work: Negotiate and divide tasks up evenly so that all the work will end up complete. I think what made us successful was that there was no leader and we all worked evenly in the tasks we chose to work on.

9. Seeing all three at work:
For my placement this summer I was able to intern with my current employer at the fire department. I chose this placement because I love the fire industry, and I work with a great group of people. Through my placement and field work I was able to see all of these systems at work at the same time. It’s really interesting for me personally to reflect on my experience.
Recently in my placement I worked at a Fire Day Camp with kids ages I really was nervous for this because I have never worked with kids before. The camp was five days long, with one day just working with 5-7 year olds. On a personal level, I was able to see that personally I was developing people skills working with the kids. I am shy person and when I’m not very confident in a field I get very nervous and start to stutter a little. I was nervous before the camp, but my field supervisor, who is also my co-worker reassured me that everything would be ok. I see her interact with kids on a daily basis through public education, so just being able to think about how she interacts with them helped a lot. I think on an interpersonal level, my field supervisor has been a great mentor through all of my field work and just being able to assist her with projects and shadow her throughout the summer has helped me build more confidence in myself. On a group level, I was able to work with my field supervisor and the firefighters to help make the camp a success. My field supervisor ran the camp, and I just helped where needed (set- up, tare down, directing the kids, etc.). We all worked as a team to prepare for set up of the camp, and also the firefighters were helpful in assisting with the education portion. There was actually an entire day dedicated to team work among the firefighters. It’s rewarding to me that I was able to help out with this camp and learn about fire and life safety public education!

10. Active Listening 1st qtr and 2nd qtr
Ever since I started the HS program I have learned quite a bit about active listening.
I have tried to use this in my everyday conversation with co-workers, customers, and family and friends.
Active Listening consists of: Listening without interruption, not thinking about other topics when listening to someone, responding so that you show you’re listening by repeating some form of the conversation, and EYE contact.

11. Now what? My junior year is almost over, so now what?
I am excited to pursue my senior year and learn more about human services! It has been a great experience so far through courses and also practicum courses.
However, I still am very unsure about the career I want to pursue. I really want to pursue another degree or course of study, and I’ve narrowed it down to IT, Fire Science (firefighting and paramedic work), or HR/accounting.

12. References
Stewart, J. (2012). Bridges not walls: A book about interpersonal communication. (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages.
Wade, M. (2005, October 18). Theories used in is research. Retrieved from