MSW Roundtable Dicussion Video Transcript
00:00:01:00 - 00:00:24:22
Text on screen: We invited current Master of Social Work students to the Red Room at the University of Saint Mary, where they discussed social work, life as a student, and future careers.
00:00:24:23 - 00:00:29:02
Kat McIntyre: How has the University of Saint Mary MSW set you up for success?
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Ashlynne Sanchez: I really think that the University of Saint Mary in general has set me up for success by the professors that I've had throughout the years. I just feel like all of them like they're so different than other universities that I've heard of. I obviously haven't experienced those.
But, friends that I went to high school with, like talking with them about their connections to their professors, they're like, oh, like, there's a million people in my class. Like, I don't know my professors name. Like, they don't know who I am. I'm just a number to them. Here, it's very personal. And, I have professors that I've had since I started as a freshman who are still, like, checking in on me and making sure that I had what I need to be successful.
Like they genuinely care. So I just don't feel like I can be, like, strayed the wrong way because I know that I have these people that are always going to be there to fall back on and to help me reach where I want to be.
00:01:32:01 - 00:02:27:00
Kat McIntyre: One of the great things about the program, it's definitely like flexible, how they arrange the classes and coursework. It flows in a way that really guides you and your understanding of social work and all the different roles that you can play in this field. It also is a great foundation for like what Ashlynne was saying, learning things about yourself. Learning about, you know, people who face oppression and, you know, communities that need our help, that you may not have even thought about. So just making sure that you are, one, self aware and taking care of yourself, doing that self-care and being the best social worker and person you can be. But also being aware that not everybody walks the world like like you do. And so you need to be making sure that you are sticking up for everyone and their needs. So.
0:02:27:01 - 00:03:10:20
Jasmine Henderson: Absolutely, girl. I was going to say the same thing. It's just yeah, I'm going to say exactly like everything that you just said. And also it has equipped me to learn more just deep down about like the system as far as like nonprofits. Being able to go off in, start something on your own. Being able to create something in whether or not be in this community or any other community, but knowing that you can go and take something away from the University of Saint Mary and I can go back home and say, hey, I, I can be, what you guys need me to be in this community because I learned a lot here. Yeah, it's just. Yeah. A lot of good, great things.
00:03:10:21 - 00:03:32:12
Kat McIntyre: But also, I think the history of the university aligns with the social work profession. Right. The Sisters of Charity and how they came to be and all of the work they've done in this community and beyond. It really aligns with social work. And so having this program here at the University of Saint Mary, I think is deeply impactful because it carries on that legacy as well.
00:03:32:13 - 00:03:39:58
Jasmine Henderson: This is great. You guys are awesome. Okay. How has studying social work changed the way you see the world?
00:03:40:00 - 00:04:40:58
Ashlynne Sanchez: I think for me, social work has changed the way that I see the world for the better. I think that there's so much bad that's going on every single day. And that's all that we talk about, all that we see on social media or on the news. And, once I started studying social work, I realized that it's helped me to see the good in people, rather than just focusing on the negatives and always like feeling so down and bad about the world. I feel like I'm able to give people the benefit of the doubt, and even when they do mess up and make mistakes, I'm able to still see them as a human and understand that we are all just human. We're all just doing our best with what we're, able to do in the moment. So I feel like it's really, like changed me as a person and actually, like, I am better for that.
00:04:41:00 - 00:04:53:00
Ashlynne Sanchez: Okay. Can you share a moment that affirmed you made the right decision to pursue a social work career?
00:04:53:01 - 00:05:39:00
Kat McIntyre: So for me, you know, the one defining moment, I think, was sitting in class and hearing other people talk about what they're doing or what they want to do and being like, yes, these are my people. Like, I get everything you're saying and I get what you're doing. And that's really cool. And I can be passionate about that too. And it's never the same thing. Right. Or it's something that you've never you never thought of a social worker doing or that being a social worker's role. And so, you know, it's so interesting to hear all these different perspectives and about all of the good work we're doing. So that's kind of how I feel I knew that I was in the right spot.
00:05:39:01 - 00:06:33:00
Jasmine Henderson: Right. And I can agree with that because now that you like say it like that. Like I said, that based on personal experience, like how I grew up, you see different people like that, and you're like, I don't want this to ever happen again. Like, I don't want it. The system has failed me, in a sense, in a way. And I don't want this to happen to you. I don't want this to happen to the next person. So, like, I knew I write this. I knew I made the right decision when, there were opportunities to be like, yeah, hey, you can be like, you said this, this positive change. No matter what it looks like. It can look different for everybody else. But since doing the different classes online, reading about the different aspects of what social work has to offer, I'm like, absolutely like, I made, I made the right choice. This is something that I want to do and this is something that I'm passionate about. This is something that I love.
00:06:33:01 - 00:06:55:00
Kat McIntyre: When you sign up for the program, the mail you the ASW Code of Ethics, right. And your first assignment in your first class is to read that. And I'm like reading and going, wow, like these values like that's who. Yeah. Yeah. That's who I am. That's how I align myself. And so I think that was another piece. I was like, oh yeah, okay, I can do this in.