The below assignment has been written by another student. Please read it very carefully and reply to it by providing 150 meaningful words, apa format, at least 1 citation from course textbook: Martin, M. E. (2014). Introduction to human services: Through the eyes of practice settings (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. ISBN: 9780205848058. Your work should be original work. Thanks (Hector) Based on the interview videos (Michell Duncan and Linda Williams), I believe that the 3 most prominent characteristics of a human service professional should be:

1. Empathy. Understanding each client’s story. I really enjoyed Michell Ducan’s statement in the video interview, when she expressed, “what I find more rewarding in my job is the stories of the clients, the stories really humble me.” Empathy is crucial in the Human Service profession since acknowledging another person’s emotional hardships and providing comfort and assurance is the way we connect with our patients or clients. A person who chooses Human Services for money or another reason, but empathy and compassion are in the wrong field. This field does not pay well, but it will reward you greatly. 25 years ago, I gave my life to the Lord and I promised him I would serve him the rest of my life. The human Service profession to me is my ministry and a way to pay back to the Lord all his blessings. (Deuteronomy 16:17 – Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God that he has given you.) God has equipped me with compassion for those who suffer and need help. My problem is to be balance and be aware of my limits.

2. Loyalty. I think I need to learn to be more loyal to the agencies I work for than my professional success since as a professional I pursue a dream, which is being an skillful servant and I would also like to be very knowledgeable about the different vulnerable communities we serve: homeless, domestic violence woman, children who have been abused, pregnant teen agers, addictions, mental illness, Undocumented or illegal immigrants, etc. Most of my experience has been working with people experiencing homelessness. At the moment, I am working with low-income individuals who suffer from mental illness, substance abuse and/or co-occurring. My real passion is the substance abuse individuals or addicts, since I am a recovery individual myself, but I have never worked specifically in this community yet. I might not be loyal to agencies, but I am loyal to my calling, my profession, to the vulnerable communities that need someone to make a difference.

3. Flexibility. Learning to be flexible in the Human Service is very important, no only because we work with people and people come from different and unique places. Human Service professionals have to be accommodating to their clients and the different agencies we work for. As Human Service professionals we need to learn to adapt to day-to-day schedules, client’s stories and unexpected client who might need immediate help because he or she is in a crisis situation. There are times where we need to break our system and learn to make priorities and that is being flexible. The shifting dynamics of the workplace mean that you need to adapt and respond to change, quickly, resisting this can lead to undue stress or not being effective. Serving people means serving diversity, which is the new norm. Different cultures, religions, races, nationalities, languages and clients have different need, we can not assume or pretend to be the experts of the story because we are working with very unique cases each day. As a servant of God and walk in a worthy manner of my calling, I have to be flexible, because it is not about me. Ephesians 4:1-32 – I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.