The big league

A few hours ago, my first class of my graduate career ended. At which point, I wandered around campus for twenty minutes trying to figure out where my parking garage was. Don't worry, I'm not typing this from the campus library--I did eventually find my car. But during that 20-minute stroll I had time to reflect on my first real graduate course experience.

The class is about Human Diversity in Social Work, and, as the title suggests, will cover a range of experiences across humanity. This course is designed to raise cultural awareness so that we may effectively practice with a variety of populations. It's geared toward preparing social workers to interact with every client without judgment or prejudice, no matter our own personal background, beliefs, or values.

I think it will be a good class. The professor talked us through our 3 assignments for the quarter, and they seem manageable: a one-page journal critique, a 5-7 page midterm paper, and a 10-page final paper. Yet, as she described each assignment, I heard several students huffing and puffing about the page requirements. I could tell they were feeling overwhelmed, and I've got to admit, I was surprised by this. I had classes in my undergrad with twice as many papers and assignments as this! I guess I have been preparing for the worst, fully expecting grad school to be my toughest academic challenge to date. And I'm sure it will be. We all just need to take it one day at a time, one project at a time, and hopefully this will be a smooth transition.

One more thing. The professor gave us a glimpse into her 40-year career as a social worker, and her stories were fascinating. It was encouraging to know that a degree in social work will prepare me to work in a variety of placements during the course of my career. Perhaps most inspiring, though, was when she described the profession in general. She said that sociology is about theories, and social work is about taking action on those theories. It's about educating the public, influencing policy change, and making life better for everyone.

Yep, I'm definitely in the right field.