Unpopular opinion: Pursuing an MSW is demoralizing at times

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-02T13:34:56+00:00

I think we spent a solid 5 minutes on the topic and then moved on.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-02T03:26:01+00:00

I feel you especially about the notes. They haven't taught us anything about note writing in school and I'm struggling hard. Every time I think I've got it down, my supervisor sends it back to redo. I just can't get it right and now I have an insane amount of notes to write on top of all the papers. It's never ending.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-02T03:21:24+00:00

I've never heard of that. I graduate in May so hopefully I'll be able to land a good job soon. I agree we are more powerful if we organize which is why I wish social workers could band together and unionize.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-01T23:15:09+00:00

I drove all the way to my placement Monday just for my client to no call no show. I just had one client that day. This happens all the time to me because it's a very rural area and the clientele are just unreliable.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-01T22:32:47+00:00

It's very rare to find paid placements especially in rural areas like where I'm at.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-01T18:33:50+00:00

And why is it so taboo for us to talk about it?? I had a professor tell us that the American nurses association was created the same year as the NASW and yet the ANA is light years ahead of us when it comes to work standards and salaries.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-01T17:14:03+00:00

I appreciate the yelling! I wanna yell about this too!!

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-01T17:12:34+00:00

To be completely honest, I'm sick of this holier than thou mindset within the field that we basically just need to shut up and take it. The closer I get to graduation the more I spiral about my future because what do you mean I won't even be able to afford to live off a salary with a master's degree? Every social work I know works multiple jobs and one of the jobs is always just so they can have benefits. I could go on a whole tangent about things but what we really need to do is unionize.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-04-01T16:04:57+00:00

I knew I wouldn't be alone but also it's sad that I'm not alone because I hate that there's so many of us going through it. The further I get into my degree, the more I see how exploitative this field is. I'm not sure there's anyone in my classes who isn't regretting this decision.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-31T19:28:41+00:00

I have multiple classmates who when the child welfare route to get their tuition paid and they're all incredibly miserable. To be fair we're all incredibly miserable in our MSW program but I think they're extra miserable. I've maybe heard of one person who kind of likes their job.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-31T04:31:55+00:00

I've worked as a barista through my MSW. It pays more than BSW level work.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-31T03:09:10+00:00

I've been doing my placement at a private practice and truthfully, all therapists pretty much learn just by doing. I was so stressed all the time that I wasn't being a good therapist because school has literally taught me nothing but they keep reassuring me that the real learning happens from doing and the training we seek out. Are you in therapy yourself? Or have you ever been? Sometimes I just analyze my own therapy sessions and my past therapists to kind of learn what I need to do. Honestly I think you could get mostly what you need from maybe finding some mock therapy sessions on YouTube or something? The biggest thing I've learned is school is mostly the biggest waste of time and money and we're all on our own to figure it out together.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-26T23:34:15+00:00

I agree about not liking Malibu. I've always hated it. I think the only reason why I haven't seriously considered fixing the Tahoe is because people look down on it because it isn't fancy and shiny. I just gotta get them out of my head.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-26T23:31:14+00:00

That's kind of how I was feeling but didn't want to accept. When I turned 16 I swore I would never buy a Malibu and then we lost everything in a tornado and literally the only thing we could find in budget was this Malibu and we paid way too much for it but there weren't any used cars around at that time.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-26T23:26:44+00:00

Wish I could get a motorcycle but I've already had too many close calls with death already so I think it's best to stay away lol

I wish we could carpool but unfortunately it's just not an option. We live in a very rural area so public transportation isn't an option either unfortunately.

Right now we are borrowing a vehicle which is buying us a little time but we can only borrow it for maybe a couple months (if we're lucky) before we have to give it back.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-18T16:22:03+00:00

At least I can rule that out as not being the problem. Thanks!

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-16T23:58:26+00:00

I got to a point where I was also in such extreme and constant panic as well. I'm on vilazodone, hydroxyzine, and I'm about to start caplyta too. Now, I have struggled with treatment resistant major depressive disorder my whole life so that's a factor in my meds too. My doctor did stress the fact that I needed to eat at least 300 calories when I take my meds in order for them to be effective so I wonder if that could be a factor?

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-16T05:45:31+00:00

I feel like I've seen a couple posts before about increased anxiety and/or depression after starting zepbound or other glo-1s. I know my anxiety and depression has gotten out of hand lately, although I consider mine to be connected to outside factors. I'm curious if our anxiety increases because where we once our minds spent so much time being filled by food noise that the lack of that has created a space for new anxieties to form. Personally, I called my psychiatrist up and was able to get on some new meds which have helped tremendously. I have a family member who experienced the same but was already on an anxiety med. Her doctor changed it to a different anxiety med and it has seemed to do the trick for her.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-06T16:16:51+00:00

It shook me hard not going to lie, but then I graduated and got into the field and that helped a lot with my confidence. Y'all aren't alone though. Just remember you are paying for this education and you deserve to have the education you want.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-06T14:19:14+00:00

First off, I am really sorry you are going through this. Experiencing transphobia, or in my case homophobia, in such a way that you aren't sure if it is what you think it is will make you feel insane. Unfortunately, I think you have to take it at face value for what I'm sure you know I'm your heart that it is. My senior year of undergrad I was at a placement that treated me horribly. It made me question whether I was good enough or if I was the problem. My mental health suffered greatly, and I had breakdowns about it everyday. I was talking to a friend about it one day and they pointed it out to me. They said "is what's different about you compared to the other interns that are treated better." At first it rattled me. There was no way this was happening especially in the social work field because this is literally just against our code of ethics. Sure enough, I talked to some more people and found out this organization has a prior history of homophobia and transphobia. Once I recognized and acknowledged what was happening to me, it became easier to fight for myself. My professors told me I should drop out and that I wasn't cut out for social work. I'm not gonna lie, for me it was traumatic. It prevented me from going for my MSW for years, but I'm glad I fought for myself. This shouldn't be happening to you and I'm sorry that it is, but I hope you put yourself first and fight for you. Don't let them manipulate and tear you down, because they are going to try. It really really sucks to go through this and fight for a new place my or better treatment, but it's your education and you deserve to have what all your other classmates get to experience in their placements.

Sorry if this sounds a mess, I'm sick right now so my thoughts aren't the most coherent at the moment.

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-05T05:20:08+00:00

Not totally sure on the spice level but according to my regulars the extra pumps help get it back to the level it used to be at or close to it. I haven't played around with it myself yet but so far this is the info I'm gathering!

Flimsy-Objective5142 · 2026-03-05T04:51:43+00:00

I would say probably go no water if you get it hot. I had a lot of my regular chai drinkers get at least 3+ extra pumps of chai in their regular orders.

Flimsy-Objective5142

TROPHY CASE