by Hope S. Pacheco, LMSW
Your Life Is Your Story
What led me to social work was a deeply personal experience that shaped my decision to focus my career on serving others. I was drawn to the core values and principles of our profession and our commitment to serving others.
As I reflect on my current work as a social worker in higher education and the work I do on behalf of students who are struggling with their mental health and some with basic needs, I think about that deeply personal experience that led me to social work and my commitment to the core value of service.
I remember the hunger pangs echoed loudest at night. Filling out my own free lunch application in high school was the first time I took control of my own life. When most students my age looked forward to school breaks and vacations, I dreaded the long days of uncertainty. I learned to get by and quiet the pangs. I found nourishment in the hope of a better life one day - a life I thought was only possible, for me, through a college education. That hope fed me until I could literally feed myself, which as it turned out for me, was in college. Along the way, I found my passion for serving others at the School of Social Work.
As a social worker, I learned how to build relationships and to create environments that allowed others to share what they were comfortable with, their edited versions of their life stories, at least until they were ready to share their unedited versions. I learned not only the right questions to ask, but how to ask.
This experience continues to ground me in the work I do every day, for and on behalf of students here at my university. I have dedicated my life and career to serving students by advocating and creating awareness, opportunities, resources, and spaces for students to have the opportunity to share their unedited life stories.
I know there are students out there who have heard the same echoes I once heard, and I wish they knew there are many of us who don’t just want to quiet the pangs with hope but to silence them with solutions to address their needs with care and dignity.
Hope Pacheco
Hope Pacheco
I know the struggle of growing up in a world full of insecurity and the toll it can take on students’ minds and bodies, the frustration students might feel for telling their story over and over or from hiding every bit of their story. I also know the grace and humility of receiving help when in need, and so every day, I commit myself to the social work core value of service on behalf of my students to earn the privilege to hear their unedited life stories.
Hope S. Pacheco, LMSW, is a college prepping mom of four, a social worker in higher education, and co-founder of Las Comadres College Mentoring Program at the University of Houston.