Field Training to Practice

Internship is a vital role in GSSW. You spend more hours in your field placement than in the classroom. Currently, I spend 24-30 hours a week at my placement, and 9 hours in the classroom. With that being said, I good amount of learning and application occurs in your field placement.

I spent the entire Fall Quarter attending the state mandated training for my field placement. I learned how the organization operates and how to preform my job with best practice skills. This made my Fall Quarter seem very boring to many of my counterparts at GSSW, but has made a world of difference for my this quarter. As this quarter is underway I am beginning to be the primary caseworker on cases and new referrals. Because of my extensive training from my field placement I am able to take a more independent role in which I am able to preform the job duties as if I were staff and practice the skills I learned in training.

Since I am still an intern I have to follow DU’s strict supervision requirements; one hour a week with an MSW professional. So as I am practicing my learned skills and classroom knowledge I receive feedback and support from my supervisor to facilitate my growth as a student and a professional. This weaving of skills has helped me to become comfortable in my skill set and confident in my ability to be a successful Social Worker.

Parenthood and survival mode

As a husband and father (6 year old daughter), the balancing act between classes, work-study, internship, and a personal life can be a bit challenging. Setting aside a couple of days a week for “family time” provided some semblance of balance for me/us. Of course on other days…most days, while I was buried in school work, dialogue between us such as, (Daughter): “Papi,” can you come here?” (Me): I’ll be there in a minute after I finish this assignment” was all too common. One big shift that occurred between the Fall and Winter quarter for me is that  now I’m confident in my ability to successfully navigate my classes and that confidence has translated to me being able to spend more quality time with my family.

Something else that has provided much needed balance is that I’m able to spend one night a week with my wife as I found a babysitter whom my daughter adores. In fact, one of the other graduate students comes over once a week to watch my daughter. So, for anyone who is a parent, and is considering coming to DU’s GSSW and are considering the ramifications on parenthood/or wondering about babysitting, have no fear, you’ll probably even be able to find a babysitter, right in the program….!

66 Degrees, Yes Please!

Yep, you read correctly.  It’s currently 66 degrees here in Denver, sunny with clear blue skies.  Oh, it’s also January 28th.  I’m planning on going for run when I get home then taking one of the kids I mentor to one of the many local parks to play a little catch.  Will this affect my planned ski trip this weekend?  Don’t you worry – it’s mid thirties in the mountains with more clear skies and plenty of snow!  There’s some fresh powder predicted to come this weekend, but it’s going to stay nice temperature wise for the perfect skiing setup!  Moral of the story is – here you get the best of both worlds, jeans and t-shirt weather with a perfect ski forecast!

How are agencies picked as internship sites?

I’ve gotten several questions recently about how we pick our internship sites.  There are several ways that agencies and GSSW become partners. 

2nd Quarter Internship

My field placement experience has changed drastically since first quarter.  The work I did at my adoption agency during my first quarter seemed mundane and pointless.  I rarely felt like the was contributing to the agency or being of value.  That’s now all changed!

After receiving training in early December to complete SAFE Home Studies,

The Quarter System ROCKS!

Here at DU, we are on the quarter system.  Most people you talk to will complain about it because everything goes by so quickly.  It feels like you start classes and before you know it, you are knee deep in midterms.  However, I’m one of the ones that LOVE the quarter system!  Here are the benefits:

It’s official! The only thing worse than my singing is my dancing.

It was proven Saturday night that indeed, the only thing worse than my singing is my dancing.  In honor of GSSW’s  80th anniversary, we held a student event called Dancing with the Dean.  It was a smashing success with students, staff and faculty all learning

Powder!!

Thus far this ski season has been amazing! It is only January and some of the major ski resorts like Copper Mountain and Breckenridge have base depths between 70 and 90 inches. Just in the last week most resorts have received 40+ inches of snow. It’s pretty amazing that some of these world-renowned ski resorts are only a short drive away from Denver.

Navigation through a Metro area

To some Denver is a busy city, to others it is only slightly larger than a town. However, it is a pretty easy to navigate and get yourself around. Being from a different part of the country I am pretty amazed at the grid system used to map out Denver and the surrounding area. The roads, for the most part,

Welcome to Field 101

I would imagine that you are nervous thinking about graduate school.  I assure you that your nervousness is nothing compared to mine learning how to write a blog.  In social work we are always looking to improve our skill set and learning to blog