In college, at SUNY Buffalo, I knew exactly what I wanted to do for the rest of my life and that was social work. My professional life had me bouncing from the projects of Buffalo to the inner city of Muskegon Heights to helping families stuck in the foster care system. I knew I truly loved what I was doing, but I felt I could do more. Seven years after receiving my bachelor’s in social work I decided to start a new path in my life. This path would intersect my love for social justice and my belief that there should be equity in education.
In changing my course in life, I decided to apply for my Master of Arts in Education in 2017 at Michigan State University. My goal in entering the program was to pursue a leadership position at the postsecondary level, specifically working with underrepresented populations. I had worked for a number of years getting students to postsecondary education only to see them finish a year of their studies then drop out. I decided I needed to get into the student services department of a postsecondary institute in order to continue to work with my students throughout their journey towards a bachelor’s degree. This process would help give me the tools needed to help students stay for the long run and receive a degree in whatever they wanted to pursue.
In about two months I will be completing my master’s in education. As I look back to my goal I know it’s still something I want to accomplish in my professional career. Since writing that goal I have become the Director of a federal TRIO program working with low income and first generation students in 6th through 12th grade. This degree will only continue to push me forward towards working with college students. I know that everything I have learned will allow me to be a better support system for the students I have and the students I will have in the future. I have a baseline of knowledge and a wealth of information I can continue to reference along my journey. I have also started looking forward at what my education might look like in the future. No doubt in my mind my goals will always include working with students of diverse communities. That will continue to be a passion I have in my life. Now it’s just a matter of focusing on what my new goal should be in my life after my master’s degree.
Eight years ago I would never have thought I would be a professional with both degrees in social work and education. In fact, I don’t think I would have believed that I would have ever stepped away from my goals of helping communities through my social work skills. For now, I am going to roll with the punches and continue to fight for justice in the community I work in and the schools I partner with. I won’t ever lose my social work background I will just gain more fight through focusing on inequities in education.