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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 an...
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Golden State Warriors NBA Championship Parade

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I will preface this post by saying that I'm a spoiled sports fan who roots for all Bay Area professional sports teams. Growing up, I was lucky enough to see Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Steve Young, and the San Francisco 49ers win multiple Super Bowls. I'll never forget the Battle of the Bay World Series of 1989, which I was preparing to watch on TV when the Loma Prieta earthquake happened. In college, I got to see Cal go to numerous bowl games and beat Stanford in the Big Game every single year I was a student. Between 2010 and 2014, I witnessed the magic of three successful World Series runs by the San Francisco Giants. Now, after 40 long years, it's time for the Golden State Warriors to have their moment! Yes, my friends who live in other states hate me, but I tell them I pay for it with Bay Area housing prices!

While the Golden State Warriors play in Oakland (and moving to San Francisco in 3 years), what sets them apart is that they are the entire Bay Area's basketball team. Unlike previous championship series with the Giants (as I work with diehard A's fans) and 49ers, everyone around me was unanimous in their support of the one local basketball team. In fact, when the Warrior finally clinched the championship last Tuesday, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose all erupted into celebration (with no riots or property damage in the Oakland area - take that, national media)!

In all honesty, I wasn't planning on attending the championship parade. While I've been following the Warriors since the days of Run TMC, Spree for Three, Chris Weber, Chris Gatling (who I ran into at the grocery store as a kid), etc., I'll readily admit that once high school started I didn't pay much attention to professional sports until I finished my masters program and fell in love with baseball again. Also, I didn't want to put my coworkers through the same scheduling "musical chairs" I pulled to get time off for the 2014 Giants World Series Parade. Fortunately, I had a scheduled day off, along with the rest of my family. Parade day for everyone!

While this parade incorporated components from other World Championship parades (i.e. double decker buses for better viewing, political dignitaries, cable cars, confetti galore, etc.), there were elements that I could only describe as "Oakland". Here are some pictures from a fun day!

Warriors Parade Banner
Blue and Gold banners lining the parade route
Libby Schaaf and MC Hammer
Oakland's mayor and MC Hammer riding a fire shooting snail!
The Janky Barge
Politicians riding "The Janky Barge"
Players' bus
Double decker buses so everyone can see them! Draymond Green did get off his bus and interact with the crowd, including high fiving my dad!
City of Oakland Float Warriors Parade
Oakland had some pretty unique and quirky floats during this parade. Here's another one!
SF Cable Car
Obligatory SF cable cars on wheels
Stephen Curry and Andre Iguodala's MVP Bus
MVP Bus!
Stephen Curry and Larry O'Brien Trophy
Steph and trophy!
AC Transit Bus Warriors Parade
Can't forget about public transport!
BART float Warriors Parade
BART train!
Duck Congee and Chinese Donut
Lunch in Oakland's Chinatown! I'm sure this parade was great for local businesses!
Given Oakland's reputation in the national eye these days, there was probably nothing better for the city, their economy, and its people than a spirited celebration on a beautiful day! Bravo, Oakland! I couldn't be prouder of my birth city!

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