by Shenae Osborn, LMSW, MA
As social employees, it’s our job to advocate for others. Our journey to turning into social employees is lengthy however rewarding. Within the efforts to make sure college students are correctly geared up to tackle purchasers as soon as graduated, it is vital that college students full their internships in a way that leaves a constructive impression, not solely on their supervisor but in addition on the purchasers that had been seen throughout that internship. Acquiring the appropriate internship will be tedious, so when the COVID-19 pandemic unfold throughout the globe, new methods of attaining information, training, and expertise required perseverance, efficient and fixed communication, compassion, and understanding.
In Might 2021, I graduated from Fordham College’s Graduate Faculty of Social Work. My journey wasn’t simple, for private causes, however the COVID-19 pandemic would make sure that my willpower to succeed can be challenged throughout very attempting instances—not solely personally however globally—together with the worldwide inhabitants. Oddly sufficient, there was a way of reassurance and unity I felt as a result of I used to be not alone within the expertise. After we undergo issues on a private degree, it will possibly really feel very isolating, however the pandemic created collaboration amongst individuals, particularly social employees.
With the inception of the pandemic, my first internship was reduce quick close to the very finish. Fortunately, I had attained the hours required, so I used to be not fearful like so many different college students had been. The concern, nevertheless, was acquiring the second required internship. This could show to be way more troublesome, not solely as a result of we had been in the course of a world pandemic, however all the opposite college students that wanted their hours for his or her internships that had been reduce quick wanted to seek out one thing sooner slightly than later.
I used to be decided to discover a macro degree internship within the hope that I might get a distinct view of social work. Fortunately, I used to be profitable at acquiring an internship with Dr. Elaine Congress the place I would change into a United Nations intern. This was not simple, although. Acquiring this internship required me to make many calls, persistently. After all, I felt dangerous that I used to be bothering individuals who had been extraordinarily harassed attempting to assist college students get their needed hours, however I knew that I needed to advocate for myself below the circumstances. As social employees, we regularly place others and their wants earlier than our personal, however just like the oxygen bag within the airplane, we should place the masks on ourselves earlier than we might help others.
It takes many individuals, together with professors, different college students, household, and mates to assist us obtain our final objective. I used to be so lucky to have Dr. Congress see my drive to actually make a constructive affect. It’s due to her that I used to be chosen to be one in all two Worldwide Federation of Social Employees (IFSW) scholar interns on the United Nations. As one can think about, this chance was huge and really an honor, however it will not be simple. I mainly was doing two internships throughout a pandemic.
Hannah, the different IFSW United Nations intern from Monmouth College, and I labored laborious to make sure we achieved the entire duties assigned to us by means of IFSW, which included writing two United Nations fee statements on behalf of IFSW below very strict parameters in a really restricted time restrict. Collaborating with different worldwide IFSW representatives and creating occasions like the scholar convention for Social Work Day on the UN proved to be a problem, however not one which as a workforce Hannah and I couldn’t deal with. Though we weren’t given steerage from earlier IFSW interns, the steerage we got by means of the North American IFSW commissioner, Dr. Michael Cronin, and the opposite IFSW representatives proved to be instrumental not just for succeeding on our assigned duties however in gaining immense information on working by means of difficult instances.
The underside line is that our success isn’t achieved alone. Studying to take heed to others, work collectively, embrace flexibility, and see outdoors of the field are important to attaining targets. The worldwide pandemic really made issues harder, however it additionally expanded our networking capabilities and, due to this fact, advocacy efforts. We realized that know-how can create higher inclusion whereas additionally instructing us that counting on know-how an excessive amount of can nonetheless be limiting due to connection errors and time variations. Social employees have the world earlier than them to make a distinction, whether or not it’s on the micro, mezzo, or macro degree. The alternatives are countless, and with the instruments we’ve got in our palms and the information COVID-19 gave us, there actually aren’t any obstacles that ought to cease you from attaining your desires as a social employee. Life will proceed to supply us classes. Take them and be taught. Then…exit and succeed!
Shenae Osborn, LMSW, MA, works as a psychotherapist in Manhattan, New York. As an IFSW Consultant to the United Nations, Shenae focuses her international advocacy efforts on gender-based violence and the safety of ladies and kids, a subject for which she gained a global award for her analysis and presentation. At the moment, Shenae is within the technique of co-editing upcoming volumes of Behavioral Science within the World Area, for which she additionally co-authored two chapters.
