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Tips for New Social Work Graduate (MSW) Students

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  Happy start of the school year! Perusing social media, I came across a NASW blog article called “Guide for the First Year Social Work Student”. This post provided lots of great information tailored for new undergraduate students interested in studying social work. I wanted to take that NASW post a bit farther and compile a list of tips specific to graduate students pursuing a masters in social work (MSW). In my opinion, graduate school is a completely different experience from undergraduate, so my hope is that these tips will serve to be beneficial. Tips for New Social Work Graduate (MSW) Students -Don’t worry about grades so much When I was in graduate school, one of my professors told a story about a straight A student who committed suicide several years after graduation. His point was that given the people we need to work with, we social workers need to focus less on being perfectionists (as demonstrated by obsessing over grades and test scores) and work on being empathetic and co

Black Friday!

Apparently my last post was roughly a month ago. My hospital has been offering pretty generous hours lately, and while I've been making decent money, the work coupled with my long commute leaves me pretty drained by the end of the day. Hopefully, I'll be able to alleviate this situation once I have a permanent job and move out of my parents' house. Anyway, if I haven't mentioned this before, the period between the beginning of October to the end of January is my favorite time of year. This is because all my favorite holidays and my birthday fall during this four month period. Last Thursday, I had a relaxing Thanksgiving filled with family time and food. Yesterday was Black Friday, signaling the beginning of my favorite time of year to shop. While I do like to save money, I'm not hardcore enough to do something like pitch a tent in front of Best Buy in order to get a cheap television (which I saw on the way home from breakfast Thanksgiving morning). I have noth

Sephora Friends and Family

Sephora is one of my favorite stores. Despite the fact that my cheap boyfriend prefers a natural look on me, I visit Sephora regularly to shop, play with make up, and pick up free samples to test on my sensitive face before buying. Word on Slickdeals is that Sephora is having its Friends and Family sale from 10/21-11/3. Now would be a great time to stock up on make up, face and body products, and Christmas presents as everything will be 20% off with the code FF2010. If you want to save more money, shop through Ebates.com for 4% cash back! Buy now while the sale is happening, because when the sale is over and your eye cream runs out you'll be paying full price!

Happy Case Management Week!

At work, I am part of the Case Management Department. This department consists of nurse case managers, social workers, and assistants who work in tandem on a patient's discharge. While case managers handle the medical aspects of a discharge, the social worker's primary role is to address social issues such as coping, substance abuse, family dynamics, community support, safety, abuse, and end of life decision making. This week is National Case Management Week, and I am pretty happy that my job is including the social workers in the festivities. This week, I received a free pin, free lunch, and free gift certificates. Very sweet. Next up: National Social Work Month in March! Don't forget to thank your case manager, social worker, and discharge planner for ensuring that each hospital patient gets discharged in a safe and timely manner!

A new beginning

Wow, it's been almost a year since my last post! I suppose time flies when you're busy. Let me summarize the events of the past year: - I completed my MSW program last May. While I am relieved to be done, there are times when I miss the student lifestyle. I suppose contributing to this feeling is the fact that... - I moved home. Considering I didn't have a job lined up upon graduating, I took advantage of my parents' generosity and moved back home. While this is meant to be a temporary arrangement, my parents do not want me moving out until I secure a full time job. Moving home has certain been an adjustment, as I enjoyed living on my own. However, the biggest benefit is that I'm saving tons of money by not paying rent (my parents refuse to accept rent money, telling me to save it instead). - I landed a per diem job at a hospital. After three months of obsessively searching and applying for jobs, I was finally hired by a staffing agency. I currently w