Letter to Social Work Students in Their Last Semester

by Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW

Dear last-semester-social-work-student,  

     This is your last semester. You worked so hard. You pushed through a GLOBAL PANDEMIC and negotiated the minutiae of "APA style.” You isolated with COVID to protect the herd and were herded into "group" projects where you were the only one that did the work. You've written "A" papers that got a "B." You've also written "C" papers that, for some unknown reason, came back with an "A" (unknown because why would you bring it up with your prof and risk losing the A?). Speaking of profs, you've had some who have been so amazing that you were inspired to be a better you, and others who were so bad that you wonder how anyone ever allowed them to teach.

     You've realized that Hollywood could never tell stories as heartbreaking and tragic as the lives of your clients, because no one would ever believe they were true. You can't wait for that moment when you wake up feeling like something is missing and then realize that the thing that is missing is homework. You can't wait to get paid for doing social work, instead of paying to do social work. At the same time, you're terrified that in less than six months, you'll be the social worker, not the student; that the classmates you've come to rely on will get busy and fade away; that the person you've grown into isn't really you; and that you'll never earn enough to pay back your student loans.

     We get it. We were there, too. We have some advice for you:

• Don't check out of your classes quite yet - the most important part of your education might be just around the corner.
• Look for the people you always wanted to get to know but didn't have time. Get to know them.
• Apply for jobs and the licensure exam, but not too early.
• Ask profs to be your references, but not too late.
• Go to graduation, even virtual, because it is your day to be celebrated. If your graduation is in-person, take pictures with your favorite profs and introduce us to your family. We might not let on, but gushing about how amazing you are is one of our favorite parts of the job.
• Don't get too caught up in finding the right job right away. Almost every job will teach you something valuable. To paraphrase Shakespeare, there are more things to learn in social work than are dreamt of in your program.
• Expect to feel anxious as a new social worker. Anxiety is our alert system. Don’t ignore it, but don’t get overwhelmed by it either. We wrote this article just for you: Treating New Social Worker Anxiety Syndrome.
• Keep in touch with your professors. You paid a lot of money for this degree. That buys you access to your professors as long as they are around. Make full use of them.  

     We're excited to welcome you to the profession.  

Love, honor, and respect,

Every social worker in the world

Jonathan B. Singer, PhD, LCSW, is associate professor of social work at Loyola University Chicago, founder and host of the Social Work Podcast, President of the American Association of Suicidology, and co-author of the 2015 Routledge text, Suicide in Schools: A Practitioner's Guide to Multi-level Prevention, Assessment, Intervention, and Postvention.