Social worker? You must be joking; do you not know the media portrayal?

When I was at school, I was told that I would make a good social worker and friends also confirmed this. I knew that there was never any possibility of me being a social worker. I had heard and read how the media portrayed social workers. However, with that in mind, I had no idea what I wanted to do. Leaving school I went into administration, as that was the next thing the careers advisor had suggested. For many years I went from one job to another, finding it ‘easy’, ‘meaningless’ and to be perfectly honest boring. I knew I had to find a job I wanted to do but had no idea how to.

What I did know was that I really wanted to work with people and help make a difference. I started to look at courses around social studies and came across the 2+2 degree in Social Studies at Warwick University. I liked the sound of this, however, it would be a massive change, a lack of finances, giving up my job etc… However, after a year or so of considering this, I decided to take my first step and speak to someone about the degree. Before long I was accepted onto the programme, and I accepted my place.

Within a few weeks I found out I was pregnant – I didn’t know what to do. I eventually delayed starting the course till the following year. I started the 2+2 degree when my daughter was 6 months old.

It wasn’t that easy to start with, the changes in circumstances, the loss of finances, finding out I was dyslexic and juggling studying / writing essays with a young baby wasn’t easy. It was definitely a challenge! However, it slowly got easier, as I adjusted to becoming a student and relearning study skills. As I got to the final year of the degree, I still had no idea what I wanted to do. I was considering what modules to take in my final year and thought I’d take what I thought would be ‘easy’ modules, as I had a dissertation to write. I stumbled across the social work module and thought that sounds easy and interesting, so I’ll do that.

By the end of my final year my whole outlook on social work and social workers had changed. I now knew I wanted to be an Adult Social Worker (definitely, not a children’s social worker, I personally couldn’t think of anything worse).

I then applied for the MA in Social Work through CLL and was offered a place. I commenced my masters straight after completing 4 years on my undergraduate course. I had another 2 years of study to go. I then realised that some of the modules I had completed on my undergraduate degree, would come in useful for social work. I thoroughly enjoyed the Social Work degree, I learnt so much, and the placements were a great opportunity to get some practical experience. I always thought I wanted to work with adults, but not sure in what concept, apart from I knew it was never going to be in mental health. Honestly, mental health scared me, I’d heard the media’s portrayal of ‘mentally unwell people’ going on killing sprees, or people ending their own life. It sounded scary and something that I was not able or capable or working in.

However, one day that all changed.

I had to complete a ‘service user’ interview to make sure I was ready to go onto my first placement. This was with a service user who had struggled with her mental health but was now holding down a job and who now understood her experiences and difficulties and was in ‘recovery’. This mini-interview was supposed to last 10 minutes, however, I was so curious and had so many questions that it went on for about half an hour. The course leader came into the room several times, to try and end it, but the service user kept saying “just a couple of minutes more”. Just before leaving the room, the service user said to me “you would make a great mental health social work”. This meeting changed my whole thinking, and I begged the course leader for a mental health placement, if possible, for my final placement.

I got the placement I wanted. I was in an adult mental health crisis team. I was still absolutely petrified as I had no idea what to really expect, and my placement was a huge learning curve! In less than a couple of weeks on placement, I was introduced to the other teams surrounding us, and one manager joked about finding their next new social worker. “Me” I said… I don’t know, I’m not sure if I could actually do this job, there is so much to learn and so much I don’t know.

I feel like I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, I’m a fraud… could I really talk about suicide and plans on a daily basis?

However, I applied for the job and got it. I started after my final placement, whilst waiting for my results as a social care practitioner and once I had passed my Masters in Social Work, my journey began. I became a social worker in 2019 and since then I have continued my journey in mental health. I have navigated my way through covid and the AMHP Training— an AMHP is an Approved Mental Health Professional. I found out just before Christmas 2022 that I had passed by course and would be able to practice as an AMHP.

If it had not been for the 2+2 degree in Social Studies, I would not have ended up where I am today. It was the best thing that I could have done. It was scary at times, it was a challenge, and as a mature student with a young daughter, things didn’t always go smoothly: I wanted to quit so many times. However, I am where I am today due to the 2+2 degree. Change is difficult and as human beings we are not good with change, however, if you are thinking about taking the leap into study as a mature student go for it! It can, and will change your life.