The Social Work Experience

I have awakened from my six month slumber! Please allow me to recapitulate my moments away from the interwebs.

The internet has always been a cesspool I dabbled in from time to time to watch an occasional hair tutorial or cyber stalk friends of the distant past. However, in 2018, I deleted Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter off my phone. The vane, arbitrary, and discreet rules of social media cultivated a platform of exclusionary policing. Diverse opinions, perceptions, and identities were subjected to invalidation if it did not match the status quo. Today I can say that I am scared of my experiences or opinions rescinding a job position. My career is a part of my livelihood, success characterizes my personality.

Since June, I have already been interrogated about my website and the interrogation had nothing to do with previous blog posts but my introduction page.

Besides my trepidations of being “outed,” I'm also not tech savvy. New features and platforms have since developed from 2018 and I do not know how to market effectively on social media. Likewise, as a first year graduate student, I was not going to make the time to write weekly blog posts or budget for a social media marketer.

Therefore, the most plausible option was to focus on tangible goals. So in the following months, I became certified in project management, successfully moved to another state, and acquired my first apartment. Greater details can be explained in the following paragraphs or future blog posts, but I would like to cordially thank those who support my writing. May my experience continue to formulate ideas and foster meaning for your vocational path.

If you have taken two minutes out of your time to navigate my minimalist website you would have learned of my acceptance and matriculation into graduate school. Currently, I am a dual degree masters student at Widener University. In 2024, I will possess a Master of Social Work and Master of Education in human sexuality studies. Initially, I wanted to utilize my degrees as a certified sexual therapist. Nonetheless, a myriad of events occurred to change my vocational pursuits.

The journey back to Christ, a new romantic relationship, and a previous clinical experience ignited an interest in sexual trauma healing. In understanding what may induce perverse sexual proclivities, I can learn how to heal and rehumanize the offender and survivor involved. I understand survivors and offenders working together threatens the safety and progress of individuals, but I do want to create community-based therapeutic interventions to prevent the initiation or recidivism of harmful sexual behaviors.

Thus, when I graduate I do not plan to matriculate into a doctoral program. Not attending school for a year opened my eyes to the ivory tower of academia and how I need to apply my theoretical knowledge into practical spaces. Every day I am attending a lecture, completing an assignment, or presenting a project, I am losing time to create a meaningful impact.

Listening to the traumatic stories of survivors and offenders, a myriad of factors influence their adverse behavioral reactions. Prior abuse, substance dependency, pornography, neurodivergence have been shown to be associated with harmful sexual acts and behaviors. I chose to investigate and treat offenders and survivors of sexual exploitation through community based interventions because of my expertise, interests, and inquisitive nature. Likewise, as long as I am here on earth, I wish to glorify the Lord with my works and invoke the same mercies given unto me onto others.

Since successfully completing a semester of graduate school, I look forward to writing about how to leverage your position as a social worker, the field placement process, how to formulate a budget for zero student loan debt, how to acquire income as a graduate student, and social work & human sexuality commentary.

As I transition into my spring semester, I can tell you that I do not have it altogether. My spring tuition payment is due on January 10th and I do not know how or when it will be paid. As a graduate student, you must learn how to adapt to the unexpected. If coronavirus has not taught you this lesson yet, graduate school will. There are loopholes in funding, professors are unresponsive, what you wish to do will change. You will be poor, confused, and sometimes discouraged, you will experience impostor syndrome and uncertainty. You may consider dropping out once… maybe every week. As a social worker, you will be undervalued because a PhD or M.D. will supercede a MSW, DSW, or LCSW.

I write this to remind you of all you have and will accomplish. I am undergoing this journey with you, whether you are an undergraduate student, PhD candidate, or career trainee. Exploring anything new is scary but the highest courage arises from the greatest fears. Therefore, I pray for balance, clarity, and confidence as you embrace anything life throws in your direction.