Hello, hello everyone! I promised you an update on my first two days of classes at the Kent School of Social Work yesterday, so here we go. I have four classes this semester that each meet for 2.5 hours once a week – two on Monday, and two on Tuesday. Then Wednesday and Thursday I will be at my practicum site (first day is today!) and Fridays will be spent reading/writing/sleeping/etc. I’m tired just reading that list.

Still pains me that I’m a U of L Cardinal now…

On Monday I had two classes – Human Behavior in the Social Environment, a general course on how people interact with (and in) their environments, and Social Welfare Institutions, Policies, and Services, a more technical class to learn about the specific policies and organizations that will shape my work as a social worker.

Yesterday I had two more classes – Social Work Practice, otherwise known as the basics of being a social worker, and Human Diversity, a class about – you guessed it – diversity. All of these courses (except Human Diversity) are sequence courses, in which I will take the second part in the spring.

So far, I am really looking forward to this semester! My classes seem challenging, yet they are so tailored to what I am interested in that I think I am really going to enjoy digging in and learning. I can also tell that my Sociology and Child Development (a branch of Psychology) degrees are going to give me a leg up. I have already learned many of the theories about human behavior and social environments that we will be talking about!

Something that I have noticed is that the Kent School loves group work. Group projects are not always my favorite things, as they require more planning and coordination. But as a social worker, much of my work will be in a team-based setting. So I might as well get used to this aspect of collaborating with other professionals!

Overall, the thing that struck me most about the past two days was how settled I felt. I know that this is exactly where I am supposed to be right now, and I cannot wait to see how these next two years unfold! I’m ready to soak up as much knowledge as I can, so that when I am finished I can be an effective social worker.

And now? Now I’m off to my first day of practicum! Wish me luck…