Job Hunting In Denver

I just moved to Denver about 2 weeks ago, but I am eagerly searching for a job.

I decided on a degree on sociology so that when I entered the work force I could help people by working in social services. After considering who I would like to help, out of all those in need, I am continually drawn to teens and adolescences. I admit I am a biased party, since I have a brother that has been in contact with the authorities since he was 14 years old, who is now serving a life sentence (for a crime that I believe he did not commit). What draws me though is not that I have sympathy for my brother and his plight of being wrongly convicted and imprisoned(however sympathetic I may be). The draw for me is that I believe that if given the right tools, and skills to use them he could have moved away from the path that took him close enough to a murder to be accused of it in the first place.

Now the challenge, I am applying to the state of Colorado for a job as a youth security officer, not exactly a helping hand kind of job I know, but its a job that will give me experience and a chance to make a difference on a more personal level with the individuals that are affected by the harsh laws that send them to these facilities where they are given little or no instruction on how to cope with the situation that they are in, that is well beyond their maturity level.

What I hope to gain is insight. Insight as to how the system works and how it fails and what might be done about it. What I hope to accomplish, is a restructuring of my character from student of the social sciences to a worker in the social field. I also hope to form some relationships that will help guide me through my career, not only with co-workers and supervisors but also with the inmates/clients.

In the longer run my hope is that through whatever work I can do, small or big, I can help to bring about change that will ensure that our young people, who find themselves on the wrong side of the law when they are too young to fully realize the consequences of their actions, to ensure that they are given the second chance they deserve to re-enter society without stigma or label and to ensure that they are given the right tools and the skills to use them so that they can succeed.