Alenoush Karimian. Soc 2 Winter 2017. . - 1707 Words

Alenoush Karimian SOC 2: Winter 2017 The Influence of Three Weak Ties Social networks can be reconstructed with the introduction or reduction of nodes that make up social ties. The nodes represent the individuals in that network and the ties are the connection between the nodes that vary depending on the individual s social network (Christakis and Fowler: 2011). This diversity in social networks has the potential for changing the path of someone’s life course. For me this occurred during the time I was in high school. My mom became disabled when she injured her back at work. Her injury made walking difficult and painful, therefore forcing her to leave her job†¦show more content†¦GYA is a non-profit organization that helps and aids low-income families. One way they do this is through their job placement program where they find low-income high schools jobs for the summer. This is in the hopes that in the long run they will be permanently hired in their assigned summer position. During my experience in volunteering for two summers I met K , the head coordinator for this summer program and the first weak tie in my social network. Since I had known K through volunteering, I reached out to her about my situation. Once she heard about what my family was going through K utilized her social capital to quickly get my younger sister and me a job. I was grateful that it was during the summer that we received the eviction notice since GYA only places teens in jobs during the summer. However, K found a position for me at a coffee shop that extended until the end of Fall. In addition, to her asking for funds to keep me working, she provided gift cards that ranged from $100-150 every month for groceries and toiletries for my family. With the help of K my sister and I had temporarily been hired at the location she placed us in that worked with our school schedules. My family and I benefited tremendously from K because she had social capital that my strong ties did not. She had been working at GYA for over 10 years, allowing her to build relationships and network support. This allowed us to