Guess what!?!?
In just a few short weeks (even shorter when I think of the number of assignments and the big final that are yet to come, but that’s besides the point), I will wrap up my second year as a social work student and prepare to receive my Diploma in Social Work at convocation in June. Yep. I am FINALLY going to get a piece of paper that says I have been to school. I started at Kings in fall 2005, went on and off, mostly part time, while I worked or travelled in the process and in between, entered Macewan’s Social Work Program in fall 2009, and in just a few weeks will finally be done and have a piece of paper with a stamp and a seal that I will proudly hang on… my bedroom wall?
Big question now is the one I have been asking since I was like 14. Then what? What do I want to do with my life? What do I want to be? 10 years later and I’m still asking the same old question. And truth is, I am still mostly without answers. I honestly thought that my two years in the program would give me a bit more direction and while I admit I have a few more ideas, I am no more certain that I was 2 years ago, heck I don’t even think I’m much more certain than I was 10 years ago when I started to stress about it!
So, at loss for what to do next, I applied for the University of Calgary’s satellite campus in Edmonton. The thing about this campus is that it is supposed to be fairly competitive to get in. They take about 50 students, 25 university graduates and 25 diploma transfer students. So of anyone who has received a social work diploma in the last 5 years, full time or part time, 25 get in. Now I realize that they aren’t all applying, but still a scary thought. What’s the big deal you ask? Why would you need a degree anyways? Well the most obvious answer is money, as with anything else, the more educated you are, the more money you make. Next is that with a number of agencies, they simply don’t hire diploma graduates- unless you have a long history of field related experience. Other agencies, such as Children Services, just prefer the degree. To apply there you either need a degree or a diploma and a minimum of 3 years of field experience. And finally, Alberta is the only province that allows people in possession of a diploma to be recognized as Registered Social Workers- and your best bet is to be registered as a social worker. Other provinces, in the States, and even internationally (I believe), while they might recognize you have some education in the field, you can’t register which makes it hard to practice within a lot of the positions.
What’s the big deal about that then? Well, I don’t know that I’m going to be in Alberta the rest of my life. At this point, I am 24 and single and have no idea where life is going to take me. I’ve looked at doing international work, at international missions. When I do find the man that God has in store for me, I don’t know where our life will take us, whether within Canada or elsewhere in the world even. So the degree just seems like a logical step.
Then what is the problem? Well, at first I was just worried that I wouldn’t get accepted. My application was dropped off at the Edmonton office on the final day of early admissions. Realistically do I have a shot, sure of course I do. But my biggest concern is that when it comes down to practical experience, I don’t have much of it. A number of my classmates have been working in Shelters, group homes, or other agencies for sometime now. People took jobs at their placements from last year, or kept with them as volunteers. I have been waiting tables for 6 ½ years. So yeah, I am worried that I wont get in. So I started to think that maybe I need a back up plan. Well, somewhere along the way, my thoughts about the backup plan have begun to overcome my thoughts to go to school. Long story short, at this point, I am actually quite certain that I don’t want to go back to school in the fall. First thing to point out is that I am very aware that I tend to teeter totter on these issues, so this could change, but after a lot of thought and a number of discussions, I honestly think taking a year off is best for me. So what am I going to do with that year?
Well, I am currently researching a number of longer term mission opportunities. As in 6-12 months long. I am getting more and more excited about the prospect of going, although I am fast running out of time in deciding where I want to go. It just seems to make sense for me to go now. I live at home, so don’t need to worry about rent or bills or a house sitter. I’m single so it is easy to up and go (not that I wont miss family and friends of course). Any sort of overseas work will look fantastic on a resume so if I don’t get into U of C this year, I’d be a shoo in for next year and if I do get accepted, and they allow me to differ the acceptance, then it’ll just look great on a resume when I start looking for work in the field, either locally, nationally, or even internationally. There are so many little things that just make it seem to be the right thing to do, but there is one problem. I have no idea where I want to go or what I want to do. There are a number of different agencies I spoke with at Mission Fest that I am researching, but at this point nothing has leapt off the page at me. So as I wrap this post up, have to get back to my placement, I ask a favour of those who are reading this and have a few moments to spare. Would you pray for me? Pray that I might find the right mission for me? Pray that I might be led to the right agency, that the application goes well, and that my hopeful September departure date could become a reality? Pray that once I find an agency and get accepted, that fundraising goes smoothly? Pray that wherever I go I might be a blessing and find a place that has a need for all it is that I have to offer? And most of all Pray that I might have the confidence in knowing this is something that God wants me to do, not just something I’ve decided to do? It isn’t like it was with going to Haiti, then I was thinking maybe, found the agency and just knew. This time I strongly feel I need to go somewhere, I just have no idea where, or for what, or even really for how long.
Thanks for following along. Thanks for the few moments of prayer if you were able to do so. I promise I’ll keep you posted if there are changes. I hope that means I can fill you in soon!
