How I Ended Up as a Social Worker

I hadn’t even heard of social work before I got to college. I graduated high school intending to major in secondary education, and planned to return as an English teacher. I wanted to impact lives, and imagined that that would probably happen by hanging around after class and being available as a listening ear for my students.

I was pretty shy and insecure throughout most of my high school years, but through a scheduling error I ended up in a theatre class during my senior year. It helped my break out of my shell. I found that laughing at myself and actively engaging people was a good defense to my natural reluctance to share of myself. I enjoyed the theatre class, and I especially enjoyed my newfound outgoingness. I think I wanted to know people all along, but I finally was developing skills to help me do so. It’s amazing how well people respond to someone who actually wants to know their story.

In college, I was still fresh on the “actively meeting people to avoid insecurity” strategy. I researched several campus activities. One was a program that arranged for college students to spend social time with folks with severe developmental disabilities. Although I didn’t end up serving in that group, the interview changed the course of my life. I casually asked the student leader what she was majoring in. It was social work. I hadn’t heard of it, and she described simply, “It’s helping people.”

                I’m not generally prone to quick decisions, but I did switch my major to social work a shortly after learning about it. I had prayed right around that time that God would use me for whatever God needed. I remember feeling affirmed in my new direction when I learned that my pastor, a major role model to me, had also majored in social work.

                I made the switch in October. Over the next few years, I studied the history of the profession,  human development, therapeutic skills, policy, law, community practice. I was incredulously amused at the concept of reflective listening...  Just rephrase and repeat back what someone tells you? Thirteen years later, I find that it’s been the single most helpful tool.

                I kept engaging with classmates, professors, and other students during college. By intentionally engaging them, I grew more confident in myself, which helped me more easily reach out to others. My desire is and has been to hear stories, to be a listening ear and a compassionate friend. Social work has been a great avenue for me to do that. And I got here through an accidentally-schedule theater class and a casual question in an interview for a group I didn’t even join.

Like social work? You might like my recent post on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.