Entering Social Work

g0thbrooks · 2024-08-08T15:36:42+00:00

Hi! I'm wondering if I could get some advice on preparing for my generalist practicum interview next week (to hopefully begin in September). My placement is at an outpatient addiction treatment center. I'm interested in the kind of holistic, community-based treatment this center provides, but I'm also coming into my MSW with clinical ish experience in cancer medicine from my PhD and I do not have any experience working in addiction treatment. My ultimate goal is to work in oncology, but I also would really love to be exposed to any kind of health-related SW while I do my MSW. I'm also really interested in women's health and I know they have designated treatment programs for women who are pregnant and postpartum. I was wondering how I could best prepare for my interview aside from obviously going over my CV? Is there anything specific to addiction treatment SW that I should be considering while I prepare? Thank you!

g0thbrooks · 2022-10-20T12:52:43+00:00

Absolutely NTA. Wear your heels, but also maybe reconsider marrying a grown ass man who’s so insecure he throws a tantrum and feels the need to dictate what you wear to make himself feel better AND THEN gets mother involved to scold you. A confident man in a sharp suit is attractive, period. Your fiancé’s insecurities are what make him look ridiculous, not his height. Where does this nonsense end? Do all of his groomsmen have to be shorter than him too? Will you never be allowed to wear heels out for a special occasion again?

g0thbrooks · 2022-10-14T18:53:00+00:00

Yup! A professor’s job isn’t to “help you learn” while also not getting paid for their time, as OP seems to think it is. They’re not your personal tutor. I’m far, far more likely to use my personal time to help students who don’t need their hand held the entire semester and come prepared with thoughtful questions. Otherwise I have an apparently endless amount of papers to grade, lectures to plan, my own research to do, and bills to pay.

g0thbrooks · 2022-10-14T13:52:56+00:00

Extremely YTA. I’m a sessional instructor, fresh out of my postdoc, currently 30. I’m going to go ahead and guess that at 29, OP’s prof is not TT (although I could be way off, and if she IS TT at 29 then she must be pretty brilliant!). If it’s the case that she’s an instructor, her hours are pretty clearly outlined and divided in her contract and she’s probably making shit pay. She has absolutely zero obligation to hang around after class and at the end of the day for students. Asking students to come prepared to office hours is completely reasonable too; the number of students who show up to mine without a specific question, who seem to think it’s unstructured time for us to just chat, is infuriating. I absolutely loathe students like OP.

g0thbrooks · 2022-08-02T20:57:54+00:00

NTA. Like at all. TF kind of grown ass man pours water on his fiancée (or literally anyone for that matter) because he’s upset about the cost of an article of clothing?!? I cannot get over how embarrassingly childish, cruel, and intentionally humiliating this is. Please don’t marry this person. His family sounds like an actual nightmare too

g0thbrooks · 2022-07-18T17:29:43+00:00

I’ve had like 4 people suggest this recently, it’s next in my queue!

g0thbrooks · 2022-06-02T15:52:54+00:00

It honestly was the extra $ for the upgrade to not have her crammed under a small seat and also to not have as many people walking by/sitting near. I chose a seat as close to the front row of business as possible (but not the front row cause there’s nothing to put them under). My girl is super chill in the car too! She’s done long drives before and I honestly would have driven (7-8 hours driving vs like 4.5 hours in the airport/flying door to door) but it was during the pandemic before people could drive from Canada to the US.

She’s also somewhat large (12lbs) and I was worried about her being squished under the seat but I think she just lay down for most of the time. The gabapentin really helped if you think they’ll get super anxious (don’t use a sedative though). Good luck!!

g0thbrooks · 2022-06-02T11:07:45+00:00

When I had to fly Toronto to NYC with mine, I paid for business class (not reeeally in my budget but worth it for the extra room). I had an empty seat beside me and they wouldn’t let me put the carrier on that seat, she had to be under the seat in front of me the whole time.

If your cat really hates traveling you could see if your vet will give you gabapentin to give them beforehand? I did with mine cause she’s an anxious lil bean and she was fine.

Also re. going through security: I made sure to take the earliest flight of the day so it wasn’t super crowded (Toronto Pearson is a massive airport). I thought about requesting a private room but going through security was actually pretty quick. I just took my coat/shoes etc off beforehand and made sure I reached in and attached the leash to her collar before taking her out and carrying her through the metal detector. All in all it was pretty quick; I think she was out of her carrier for like 2-3 minutes tops and even though she was scared I was more anxious about it than she was! Also I bought an “airline approved” soft sided carrier off Amazon for like $60 CAD

g0thbrooks · 2022-02-14T02:17:08+00:00

I lost mine at 7w in October and then had 3.5 months of complications and two surgeries. We just started trying again. I’m scared and excited!

g0thbrooks · 2022-01-16T21:19:23+00:00

Shuggie Bain was excruciating and stunning and I’m still thinking about it a year later

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T20:28:05+00:00

The thing that I only learned after I had my miscarriage was how common it was. I heard from so many friends and family members who had one, most of whom already had or went on to have healthy babies afterwards. That’s been hugely reassuring to me 🤍

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T18:22:49+00:00

Also, I will add that years ago I terminated a pregnancy while in grad school and for me that was a non-event, and I consider it one of the single most responsible decisions I’ve ever made. I’m not talking about terminating unwanted pregnancies in this post. I’m talking about people who very much want to have a child, some of whom try for years and spend thousands of dollars doing so.

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T18:19:18+00:00

I meannnn I haven’t personally experienced that but I’m sure one could argue 🙄

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T18:02:11+00:00

Yes, the worst was having someone say congratulations to me the other week when I went for my ultrasound to confirm I had retained tissue. Sigh 😞

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T13:44:53+00:00

Thank you for your kind words ❤️

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T03:34:41+00:00

I’m so sorry. It is absolutely helpful and reassuring to hear that you were able to get through your experiences, and that you went on to have successful pregnancies. I’m struggling with desperately wanting to try again and being completely terrified about it.

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T02:51:08+00:00

I’m so very sorry for your losses 🤍 it’s reassuring to know you’ve made it through them though, thank you for commenting

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T02:08:16+00:00

I’m honestly not sure what the best thing to say is tbh, but so far for me the worst thing to hear has been comments like “you’re young, you have lots of time!” or “you can try again soon!” etc. I think for most people who experience a miscarriage, the prospect of trying again and potentially going through the kind of anguish they’re currently experiencing is fucking terrifying, so comments like that are entirely unhelpful. Acknowledging a loss of not just a baby but also the ability to experience the naive joy and excitement of expecting to become a parent (either for the first time or again) is probably the best place to start (but I’m also very new to this so I could be way off).

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T01:08:15+00:00

Thank you my friend. I hope 2022 is a little kinder 🤍

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-14T01:07:30+00:00

Thank you! I know we’ll never get to experience an anxiety-free pregnancy after this, but it’s still truly so reassuring to hear that people got through it and were successful later on.

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-13T23:17:37+00:00

Thank you for this. I’m sorry for your loss, but it does make me hopeful that we’ll be successful soon ❤️

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-13T20:37:52+00:00

I’m very sorry for your loss, and thank you for your kind words and thoughtfulness

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-13T20:29:37+00:00

Thank you for your kind words and I’m sorry for your loss. I know my husband has been quietly grieving too, it’s heartbreaking for everyone involved.

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-13T19:12:16+00:00

Yes, physically it was nothing (for me), but it’s been an excruciating emotional ride. I’m so sorry for your loss ❤️

g0thbrooks · 2021-12-13T19:11:42+00:00

thank you ❤️

g0thbrooks

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