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Reflection On Work

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8 views

Reflection On Work

Uploaded by

shemwanjohi177
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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REFLECTION ON WORK/LIFE/COMMUNITY EXPERIENCES

This paper reflects on the journey of balancing work, family and community engagements where
individuals from different generations carry diverse experiences that shape their perspectives. I
interviewed two individuals (Diana and Mike) who have significant life experience since they both have
family commitments like dependent children and elder care. I was able to get insights into their life
stories so as to understand their struggles and how they were able to navigate the challenges they faced
of balancing work, family and community responsibilities which enabled me to compare their
experiences with my own and was able to get insights which may influence my life choices in future.

Subject 1:

Diana, female who is 17 years older than me.

She expressed that her career aspirations as a young adult was to have her own dental hospital, one of
the best in the country. She wanted to ensure that people have healthy teeth having lost her little
brother due to a tooth infection growing up. She kicked off her career as an intern in one of the dental
hospitals and 5 years later she would set up her own dental hospital.

Diana hoped to establish a beautiful family with the right values and emphasized the importance of
spending time with her children. She emphasized on bringing up her children in a Christian home just
like how she was brought up and teach them the importance of being hardworking at a young age.

As family commitments developed with time Diana found herself making career choices that would
allow her to be able to balance work and personal life. She opted for flexible working hours where she
would close work early so as to spend more time with her family as a mother.

She explains how much impact there was as she took on more responsibilities as the CEO of her Dental
Hospital. She acknowledges the impact it had on her family life as she would sometimes work till late
which would lead to her missing out on important family events. She recalls one time she missed her
daughter’s birthday due to work. She recalls the sacrifices she has had to make to balance work and her
family.

Diana shared her experience of having to care for her sick mother which required her to perform
caregiving duties alongside her career. She narrates how it strained her as she would sometimes get to
work late after attending to her mother. This reinforced her commitment to family values.
Diana faced a period of chronic illness which really affected her work and family life. She had to stay at
home as her family took care of her while her workmates tried the best to fill in the shoes to ensure
everything flows smoothly even with her absence. This experience taught her to prioritize her health and
seek support sometimes from family and friends.

She engaged with her community by offering free checkups, volunteer work at different charities and
church activities. These activities improved her life and proved to be really useful giving to the
community although they required time management to be able to balance work, family and
community.

Economic challenges influenced her decisions regarding work and family especially when she had a
choice to make between getting equipment’s and taking care of her children’s school fees. She recalls
how her family stood with her during that financial crisis and how her husband helped ease the burden.

Diana observed that individuals my age tend to make their careers and personal achievements a priority
over traditional family values.

Subject 2:

Mike, Male, 20 years older than me

Mike’s career aspirations as a young adult were centered around law. He aspired to be the lawyer in the
country and start his own law firm.

He wanted a happy family focusing on creating strong bonds and share experiences with his children as a
young adult.

Over time Mike found himself making career choices that allowed him to be able to balance work and
personal life effectively as family commitments developed as he was a father and husband too.

Responsibilities at work made Mike make efforts to allocate time for his family sometimes at the expense
of missed career opportunities. He had to make sacrifices so as to spend time with his family as
sometimes he would have deadlines to meet.

Mike participated in taking care of his grandparents which required him to sacrifice his time and finances
being the only successful boy in his extended family. He considered it a moral obligation to support his
family.
He narrates suffering from kidney failure which disrupted his career and family for a while. He explains
that his family and workmates supported him during that time till he was good on his feet again.

The experience taught him the importance of having family and friend’s wo are more than willing to
support when needed.

He engaged with the community through volunteer work and involvement in fundraising which he says
have broadened his social network and a sense of belonging giving back to the community.

Mike says the economic challenges influenced his decisions regarding work and family making him to
make wise decisions to ensure he is stable financially for his family.

He noted that the younger generation emphasize on personal fulfilment and work life balance instead of
societal values.

REFLECTIONS AND INSIGHTS

Mike and Diana experiences showed the impact of gender norms on the choices they had to make or the
opportunities the had to take. They had to navigate traditional expectations while seeking to balance
work and family duties. For example, mike had to take care of both his nuclear and extended families
since he is a man and hence, he is a provider according to the traditional expectations. This role helped
him in making choices that would integrate with his work, family and community. Diana had to take care
of her children since a mother is supposed to look after her children as required by the community
which helped her integrate between her work, life and community.

Economic factors influenced Diana’s and Mike’s decisions showing the importance of financial stability in
shaping work, family and community engagements. Financial stability is important in taking care of the
family, community and work. Example taking care of the family, investing in business or fundraising all
require finances and good decision making.

Both Mike and Diana faced challenges related to chronic illness and caregiving emphasizing the
importance of family and friend’s support. Also, adaptive strategies to navigate difficult circumstances in
life are important.

I was able to gain important insights on balancing work, family and community commitments through
Mike’s and Diana’s conversations. Their stories showed the importance of making right decisions and
seeking support. One should be able to adapt to the changing circumstances in life.
In conclusion, the stories shared by Dian and Mike helped me to understand clearly how important it is
to integrate work, family and community engagements. By looking at the challenges they experienced I
can be able to make better decisions in the future and be able to create a good balance between my
work, personal life and the role I will play in the community.

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