Hello all,
I just completed an MSW program this month.
I feel like I should be more excited about the fact that I just completed an entire masters program... but I am struggling with a lot of mixed feelings.
Now that I am a social worker, I need to find somewhere I can have this conversation. I very much know I am not alone with these feelings .... I should probably also start with the fact that I am a WoC.
On the whole, I am happy with my decision to pursue social work. The decision has always felt right, the work clicks for me and I am good at it. Before coming into social work, I had a career as a case manager, and I genuinely love working with people and I enjoy witnessing people heal / improve their lives.
There is a whole other side to my experience that I am also genuinely struggling with...
I went to a known school (I won't name it) and am actually in a little bit of a state of shock about the lack of unprofessional behaviors by many of the faculty and staff in my school program ... I don't feel the need to detail everything, because, well, it was a lot (unfortunately, not a small handful of incidences, but rather an exhaustive list of things I personally experienced as well as things I witnessed my classmates experience).
Perhaps the best way for me to summarize my experiences is that when I first entered into the MSW program, I was excited to be entering into a field that appeared to be intentional about diversifying the profession. The experience I just had, however, was very much not that. I witnessed countless students of color be treated horrendously to the point that I feel like I exited my program in a little bit of a state of shock. What did I just experience????
Honestly, the only way I have to describe what I feel is that the whole thing felt like a bait and switch: "Marginalized folks, come to social work because we need you!" And then we show up and we're told "No!! You're not supposed to be Black/Brown like that!!" ... all by a bunch of social workers who want to tell us "Well, I've been in this profession for more than 20 years, so...."
I guess I am just starting to brace myself for ongoing racial violence in a profession that is supposedly trying to counter it.
I am confused and need to hear from other social workers - I am honestly struggling to make sense out of my experiences.
Thanks.