Leaving Optometry for Social Work?...

I was in mere shock when speaking to a prospective student at the USC School of Social Work Open House who wants to enter the field of social work after being an optometrist for some years. As a student host at the event, I engaged with many prospective students and inquired about their interest in social work. To my surprise, one student looked at me with an expression of uncertainty and doubt, and stated in a timid tone of voice, "I'm afraid that I won't be a good candidate since I have no experience doing social work, or psychology, or sociology...I am an optometrist. After picking my jaw up from the ground, with true sincerity, I inquired about what motivated her to change professions. In just a few words, I sensed passion in her response. She exclaimed her desire to work with challenged youth. In particular, she stated that she is serious about working in schools so that she can be active in reducing barriers that exist in school environments, communites, and homes.

There was no need for me to stress that she would be taking a HUGE cut in salary. Instead, I spent my time best by encouraging her not to settle for feelings of doubt, but to live through her passion instead. I enlightened her on the importance of doing so when writing her personal statement.

Let's keep our fingers crossed for this applicant!

The Greatest Social Worker of All Time: Dr. Martin L. King Jr.

Attending the 22nd Annual Kingdom Day Parade with members of the USC Black Social Work Caucus fueled my burning thoughts and perceptions about the state of our nation. As I witnessed politicians, students, and vast organizations proceed through the parade, I contemplated how much work is needed in order to fulfill the dream of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King once wrote: Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. --Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 'Letter from Birmingham Jail' in Why We Can't Wait 1963. While I give praise to those who have persevered to challenge laws and policies that hinder equality and who have thus created change, I SCREAM out to the men and women of today, social workers of all kind, to stand forth and raise controversy so that we (and those that follow us) can reap the benefit of desegregation, true justice, and equality.

In the midst of speaking to a news reporter, I was smothered with anger having to point out the realities of our country: failing education systems, segregation in communities and employment, and the various disparities between the have and have nots. I went on to comment about the work of social workers and graciously demystified the stereotype of our role as "taking children from homes" and "disseminating welfare checks." I was proud to proclaim that social workers serve humankind in all capacities.

As advocates for "social progress", I say we ring the alarm and began to reform the state of America so that, in light of Dr. King's vision, we can hold our country accountable for living out the true meaning of its creed!

Helpers Need Help Too

My first two weeks of school have been a mixed bag. My classes are EXTREMELY interesting, but they require a WHOLE LOT OF READING. I am really, REALLY interested in most of the readings…except for my economics class, but I have realized that I have to read a couple of hours a day, everyday to stay on top of my course work. I am excited to get back to caucus matters, my focus group, and my research assistant work. However, things were slightly rough the first week or so of school. I was having some financial aid issues, primarily because my financial aid package is a lot more complicated than most due to my second master’s degree. So, I suggest that any of you who are interested in a dual degree program seek out information early as to how it will affect your financial aid package. I will be honest I was quite worried about the financial aid issues that I was dealing with, but I looked for help IMMEDIATELY. Always remember that social workers need help also. I was able to get the assistance and guidance that I needed from administration in the school of social work and they helped me every step of the way.

Going to therapy

I know I have problems...so I go to therapy...I figure it will also help my therapeutic skills.

Therapeutic experience #1: Therapy is scary...Maybe I'm not ready...I have problems.

I have problems...problems got worse...they affect my work...and my ability to feel normal....don't say "define normal."

Therapeutic experience #2: driven by lack of normality...I see therapist #2.
Intake: not so bad..so far I haven't run out the door. But she's not pushing my buttons...whether or not this is a good thing, is questionable..I like her...

Session 1: It becomes apparent that I'm EXTREMELY anxious...and I love my anxiety...I love being stressed...it drives me...I get things done...but it's a problem. I'm flighter not a fighter. Avoiding is what I do best...and being busy and stressing and anxiety keeps me busy so that I can avoid some more. (I told her that if she puts me on the surgical table to work on this issue, I'm sure I'll die in the process...she says to think of it as an illness that won't kill me...I still think I'll die.)
Sooooo, my therapist tells me that I have to work on my anxiety. I want to know WHY I'm the way I am...she refuses to give in and tells me that I will either trust her and work on my anxiety or I will continue to be consumed with my worry of knowing the future and intellectualizing everything. Damn she's good. She's a hard ass too...I LOVE that and I hate that...she's starting to scare me...or maybe the process is starting to scare me.
So now I know I have to work on my anxiety...and it's FREAKING me out. She tells me to try a "5 things" technique: say 5 things I see, 5 things I hear, 5 things I feel...4 things I see, 4 things I hear, 4 things I feel....all the way to 1. Just thinking about doing this task, and when I did it with her...made me anxious. I wanted to laugh so bad...that was the only thing that brought my anxiety down.
She also told me that I should reconstruct my thoughts. The problem is I can't tell the difference between my bad thoughts and my good thoughts...I've lived with my bad thoughts for so long I don't even realize they're bad.

Bad thought number 1: I need to know.
Bad thought number 2: Committment is bad...or I want to be free...or I don't really know how to define this thought.
Bad thought number 3: I have to fix everything.
Bad thought number 4: I have to do everything.
Bad thought number 5: I need to know.
Bad thought number 6: I can't do anything until I know.

5 things...5 things...5 things. I hope this works...and I'm so going to die.

Bad thought number 7: I'm going to die.

Welcome Everyone

This past Wednesday was a very special day for myself and for the school as well. We opened our doors and invited prospective students in to come and check out what our school has to offer. I was present to assist in providing the perspective of dual degree students with a second master’s in Public Administration and I was also there with my fellow E-board members from the Latino Social Work Caucus. I felt so very fortunate to have been able to share the experiences that I have had in graduate school with prospective students as it provided them with information that will assist them in deciding where to attend graduate school. Additionally, I love meeting new people from all walks of life and it was really exciting to meet so many new people from so many different places. Overall, the event was great and I had an awesome time being a part of it.

Field placement

I am very excited to be back at my field placement. Last semester I was working with children, adolescents and adults. This semester my field supervisor will be challenging all of the interns at my placement by increasing our responsibilities. We will participate in groups, train personnel at other agencies, attend social work conferences and present case presentations on our clients. I enjoy these new challenges because any experience that I can receive now will be of great value to me in the future. I am graduating in a few months and I want to be prepared to face the challenges that await me.

Adding/dropping classes

Out of my 4 semesters at this school I have never had so many problems registering for my classes. I registered for all of my classes before I left on vacation and when I returned to school the courses that I had registered for had been cancelled. I was upset, but mostly confused because I did not know what course to take to replace the class that had been cancelled. I found a course that had been recently added to the class schedule in the Orange County Campus. I was glad that I found a course, but my second challenge was registering for the course. I am in my second week of classes and I still have not been able to add my class. I have not been to process my request because the registrar system has been malfunctioning for the past couple of weeks. It is quit upsetting that I have to go through so much grief to add/drop a course. I have spoken to personnel in the registration department and emailed all the people that I had to get in contact with, but I have not received any assistance. I just hope that I can settle this matter real soon because if it does not work out I need to find another course that will have space available.

Back to school

It's only been a week since we've been back and I'm already stressed. How does this happen? I am just immensely grateful that I love all but one of my classes...and the one I don't like I'm not even sure I really don't like quite yet...(fingers crossed!)

So...I kept asking my field instructor for a project...and he gave me a project: to create and build a website for our facility. When they say you should be careful what you ask for, they really meant it. I have no idea what the hell I'm doing and I'm not quite sure "Building a website for Dummies" is necessarily going to help me. Plus I have to do this before I graduate. Although he's offered me a job...I'm not so sure after I completely fail this task...no he won't do that, there's too much to do in Skid Row.

A website would be nice...it would really change the way different organizations in the Downtown area work with our agency and increase communication, which is so needed, it's scary that it hasn't been done considering how long we've all been there.

I do have to say that I'm frightened about the Downtown situation. The political and economic situation is going south for the homeless mentally ill. The worse part is they are so concerned about finding shelter they don't even know that in a few years they'll all be screwed...or they'll have shelter because they'll be in jail.

Doing social work will never be boring...that is something you can count on in a profession where you can't count on much.

We're BACK!

So this week we started school again and like always something new comes up everyday. At agency I am in the process of writing policy. The policy does only influence social work applicants and social work employees, but I'm excited about being part of the policy making process. Classes are really good. This semester promises to be a real challenge. My organizational behavior class seems extremely interesting, and as for my economics class...well at this point I'm a tad intimidated, so I expect to work extra hard to do well in that course (especially since most of the people in there are getting their master's degree in economics). I'm getting back into the swing of things and I realize that this will be a VERY interesting semester. : )

A Change Agent at Heart!

Prior to starting the MSW program, I had dreams of being a teacher. In fact, I had initiated the application process for the school of education before learning about the career opportunities made available in the field of social work during an information meeting offered by the USC School of Social Work. I had assumed that social workers solely worked in the area of family welfare. Yes, I too was under the impression that social workers only worked to remove children from homes and serve children in foster care. I had no inkling that social workers are change agents in the area of social policy, law, education, corporations, health care systems, and much more!

After being educated on the many options, I began to consider ways to integrate my love for education with my passion for social work. Subsequently, I have acknowledged that the field of social work serves as a prominent venue for me to assist individuals in the classroom while producing change in the education system at large. Not to mention, I am able to help families access resources, provide teacher and administrative support, as well as design and implement programming that meet the many needs of students and their families.

For instance, I am now working to design a program for students to participate in while they are off-track (in schools with a non-traditional school schedule). I also have practiced psychotherapy with individual students who have been diagnosed with varying disorders (depressive disorder, PTSD, substance abuse, and ADHD). Moreover, my learning experience has been enhanced by co-facilitating a parent group (Back In Control). Interning as a school social worker, I do classroom visits, provide psychoeducation for teachers and administrators, and LEARN much about the school system. I say I have the best of all worlds!

At times change seems slow, however, I always remind myself that some change is better than none.

-A Change Agent at Heart

Field Trip!

Okay, if you have been following my blog you know that I am a COPA intern, and as a result I see absolutely no clients in my placement because my agency is so LARGE and my role doesn’t require me to see any clients. Therefore, my typical day involves lots of cubicle work, lots of meetings where many decisions must be made, and presentations of my work that influence those decisions. However, today was a special day because it was a field trip day at my internship. I was able to sit in on a commission meeting for a major county department, and it was fascinating to see the dynamics of decision making in the room. It was awesome to see how much influence social workers had in the group, and it was really nice to see the interdisciplinary work that was being done. I was also excited about riding the metro to the meeting place, which is something I haven’t yet done in L.A. even though I was born and raised in L.A.

The field trip was a total surprise and it made the first day back in field very exciting. I will miss my leisurely winter break days where I would indulge in sleep, reading books for fun, painting, and just socializing, but to be honest it’s good to be back. : )

Get set, Ready, Go!

Now that I've celebrated a joyous Christmas and New Years with family and friends, it's time to re-pack my backpack, settle tuition fees, print out my new class schedule and return for my FINAL semester of graduate school. Although I relaxed for the majority of my vacation, I'm not sure if I'm ready to return to class, write papers, and so forth. I feel as though I need one more week to prepare for the many course assignments ahead. However, I am eager to get back to my internship so that I can reunite with my clients and continue with our treatment plan.

I suppose I will spend these last few vacation days getting organized! I'll do some goal setting, and perhaps read a few of my course syllabi.

After all, I am excited about graduating! Oh, let me not forget to plan to schedule for job interviews...