I am currently dual interning at Meals on Wheels of Lancaster (MOW) and United Way of Lancaster (UW). Each day I wake up around 7 a.m. and then go to work until 4 p.m. Then I come home to work on a hobby or socialize with friends. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I work at the MOW office under a supervisor in client/volunteer relations. I answer phone calls, complete intake forms, submit billing payments, and do other administrative duties. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I work at the UW office and take on a variety of community and research-based projects there. These projects have consisted of grant research, creating a final report to present to a grant holder, and working on a Temple University grant "Covid-19 Educational Outreach" flyers. Both organizations are helping me develop my social work and Spanish language skills.
When I was at Messiah University, I held student leadership positions in the Social Work Club, Catering, Student Ambassadors, and the Social Work Diplomats. I also engaged in work-study and extracurricular activities like the Pulse, Child Care at West Shore E-Free Church, the Social Science Fellowship, and an office assistant for Academic Advising. Each experience helped shape my interest and skill in working at the macro-level of Social Work. After graduation, I entered the Shalom Project in Lancaster, PA. This program is an intentional living community of young adults who affect social change through service. This is where I currently am in my career, working as a full-time dual intern at MOW and UW before attending graduate school for my master's. I have also participated in my first national conference (North American Association of Christians in Social Work) in November 2021 with Dr. Lane, co-presenting on "Covid-19 and Anti-Asian Sentiments" in Glendale, California.
Messiah's Social Work Department prepared me for the personal hardships and ethical situations that I may encounter and how to work through them professionally. The coursework and the field itself can be overwhelming when you haven't taken the time for self-care. Practicing self-care is your professional and ethical responsibility as a humanities worker to lessen burnout when working with clients. The Department's support has taught me how to handle those situations through advocating, delegating tasks, and giving clear communication. All these skills I have found useful at my current jobs in Lancaster.
I found the field placements in our social work courses to be most beneficial for my overall growth in the major. Since I am a hands-on learner, I was better able to understand why certain skills were needed and how to apply them to a situation properly. There is only so much you can learn and remember from a textbook, but the experience in the field will stick with you forever. I found it helpful to intern with different organizations to learn what area of social work I wanted to pursue after graduation.
I had a difficult time figuring out how to integrate my faith into work until I came to Messiah University. My faith felt so removed from the inner workings of the world that I felt embarrassed anytime I tried to bring it up. I found social work to be like what God called us to do as Christians. The Code of Ethics that all social work professionals and students must follow aligns with Christ's command to love and respect everyone from different cultures, groups, backgrounds, and values. This helped me understand how faith by works can be just as powerful as faith by words.
It is okay to not know where you are meant to be or what you should do next, as long as that does not stop you from taking the first step. I find it helpful to process these decisions with a person you trust so that you are not ruminating on them. Sometimes the only way to find the answer is by stepping out of your comfort zone. For example, my senior field placement was in a social work field that I no longer had an interest in. Instead of going through the internship on autopilot, I looked around for learning opportunities outside of just foster care and adoption. I scheduled interviews with other staff members at the agency that were involved in child protective services, elder care, health care, and community programming. There is always something that you can take away from an experience that can help you figure out what you want to do and where you want to go.
The most impactful experiences that I had from Messiah's Social Work Department were the ones where someone encouraged me to think deeper. From my social work courses to observing client cases at my field placements, there was always something that broadened my perspective. For example, in my Introduction to Research class, Dr. Charlene Lane shared an example of a research article that was published on Human Trafficking. This article included in-person interviews with active human traffickers. Then we discussed the ethical dilemmas concerning how the researchers probably did not report them to the authorities. or the time in my Practice with Groups class when the question about how to bring more diversity to the curriculum, led to me working with my peers and faculty in the creation of the Cultural Diversity Liaison position in the Social Work Club. Opportunities like this only happened when I was challenged to think deeper and observe closer.
I had never planned to enter the Social Work field but once I started to take the courses at Messiah, I began to feel like I belonged there. Even though the department was small, I was able to connect with my peers and the professors who continued to encourage and support my Social Work journey. I would recommend Messiah's BSW program for anyone who wants to grow in their own personal development and understanding of culture, faith, and community.