By Mia Stein
On Sunday, March 31st we had the incredible opportunity to meet with Dr. Sari Skolnik. She spoke to us about the different ways to use a higher degree in Social Work but taught us through a unique presentation. We were able to move around, discuss our future careers and read through case studies. Rather than simply presenting us without a frontal lecture, Dr. Skolnik found ways to make the session extremely interactive which helped encourage everyone to stay engaged.
At the beginning of the session, Dr. Skolnik placed pieces of paper all around the room. Each paper had a phrase on it and we had to choose which phrase accurately described the type of work we would like to do after graduating. Some said “helping the elderly” or “social justice” or “policy or law related.” After discussing why each of us chose to stand where we stood in the room, we were able to see just how widespread career in social work could be. Dr. Skolnik explained to us that there are many different ways to use a social work degree and suddenly, many of us saw ourselves fitting into the picture.
We did another activity in which we were assigned case studies and had to figure out how to deal with the situation as if we were the social worker on the case. This was a very cool experience as we were able to really sip our feet into the world of social work. We had the opportunity to hear about the day to day lives of many social workers and were able to see if that was something we would possibly be interested in for a career someday.
I can confidently say that almost every fellow walked away from our session with Dr. Sari Skolnik understanding so much more of what social work entails. By presenting the data and information in an engaging, interactive way, we all gained a lot from Dr. Skolnik and her presentation.
