[Tessa] With a social work degree, you can do anything
from one-on-one counseling to working with groups and families to working with agencies
to creating policy.
I think we are facing just a multitude of problems in the United States and across the
world that social work has a real hand in trying to address.
Problems from the individual level, the group level, family level to the community level
and the policy level.
[Alice] We're one of the top five schools of social
work in the nation, so we attract a lot of really diverse number of students, from different
parts of the country, different parts of the world.
[Catherine] You get this really kind of intergenerational,
multicultural, diverse learning environment that I think kind of speaks to who, or what,
social work is.
[Tessa] In our extended degree program, students are
in part-time classes, and they do their practicum throughout more quarters than our full-time
program.
[Alice] It's a challenging program, not just academically
but also emotionally, you know.
We really are here to, again, dismantle, I think, you know, previous socializations that
you've been brought up in so that you can change the world.
[Tessa] The first year or so is what we call our foundation
curriculum and, and you're taking practice courses at the foundation level that really
give you a base in social work practice.
You're taking policy courses, history courses.
You're taking some electives, but you're really getting your foundation in social work practice.
[Catherine] Everything that you do in the first year is
setting you up to move into your practicum.
Your practicum is more or less kind of applied social work practice, and it's your opportunity
to be in the field; it's an internship.
[Tessa] Our program really, really works on integrating
field experiences, practicum experiences, with the classroom experiences.
And we work hard to have people think about how they're relating the theories and models
they're learning in class to the field so that when they have their MSW they're able
to go on and work in the field and practice and have that deep knowledge.
[Catherine] I really loved my practicum.
I was in a skilled nursing facility, or nursing home, here in Seattle in a really diverse
neighborhood that was committed to having residents who lived in that neighborhood.
I think the internships themselves were invaluable because I got a job offer from the place where
I interned my second year and worked there for the first year and a half after I got
my MSW.
[Tessa] We have phenomenal faculty, staff and students.
It's just amazing to be able to see the instructors work in the classroom.
[Alice] These are people that can teach in such a
way that the materials become alive – because they've done it or they're currently doing
it.
You know, a lot of these folks are still practicing while they're teaching.
[Tessa] I think for students it's a very exciting
experience.
You’re in a world-class school of social work within a world-class university, so you
get to enjoy the benefits of both.
You're really, really in one of the greatest areas in the country to do social work practice.
There's a range of agencies and communities to work with.
So I think it's super exciting actually to be a student in our program.