MARINE CORPS BASE HAWAII, Kaneohe Bay -- When she began to doubt the path her life and career as a social worker was on, it was a simple tarot card reading in Chiangmai, Thailand, that convinced her she should stay her course.
"I was questioning staying in social work. At the time, it was so draining, and I thought it was hurting my family life," said Arlene McCormack, program manager of base Counseling Services and the Family Advocacy Program.
"But when she [the fortune teller] told me that it was because of my job that my personal and family life was working well - rather than in spite of it - I knew then that I was doing the right thing."
When McCormack was recently named "Social Worker of the Year for Family and Child Welfare Services" by the Hawaii chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, it only reaffirmed her beliefs.
From the jungles of Honduras to the Windward side of Oahu, the painter, potter, eastern philosophy devotee (McCormack reluctantly reveals that she is also a black belt-wearing karate enthusiast) and rabid University of Connecticut fan has traveled far and wide trying to affect positive change in the lives of others.
"I started out as a recreational therapist in Connecticut, but after meeting a social worker from Hawaii, I started thinking that maybe there was a way I could be more involved in helping people help themselves. That social worker was doing all the things that I really admired," McCormack explained about her career path. "Social work was such a broad field in its scope, and I knew I'd be able to focus on what I wanted to do."
McCormack went on to describe why social work is so valuable to the process of repairing lives.
"In social work, people can get so caught up in the circumstances of their relationships, of their situations, that they don't see that they could make changes that would make their lives better. We're here to support and aid, but it's always walking that line between being helpful and having them take accountability for their actions."
She has also focused her career on the importance of social work and the effect that a team of dedicated individuals can make in the lives of those they try to reach.
McCormack's own staff nominated her for the honor. She said that made winning the award that much more gratifying. A huge basketball fan, she values the functional team environment in her office over one in which individual accomplishments are praised.
"This award represents a collaboration; it's really about learning from each other. They are such experts in their fields, and they are a modest group of people. It's good to know that they see me as part of the team and not just the supervisor."