What is a social worker? Cracking your assumptions.

Hello beautiful people! So if you have already read my "about me", you would know that I'm a social worker and graduated the University of South Florida last spring with my Masters degree. I'm currently working on getting my LCSW (Licensed Clinical Social Worker) and just sent in my application yesterday to become an intern! So that is very, very exciting.
I thought about making this post because being a social worker is obviously very important to me and maybe some readers out there are wondering about what it means to be one or if it's something they would want to do. So here ya go!

(Also, my shirt seen above with "I'm a social worker, what's your superpower?" is from a shop on Etsy. They have one for a nurse as well, or any other that you would like, I'm pretty sure the owner of the shop can customize it for you if you ask. Click here to go to the shop!)

Cracking assumptions

I've heard a lot of assumptions when people talk about social workers. The most popular being; "Oh, so you take away people's kids, right?" or "You'll never make any money", or "Wow... that's hard. It takes a special person to do that". If you think some of these assumptions sound a bit annoying to hear, you're right, lol. Let me try to break some of these assumptions for you. 

"You take away people's kids, right?"

• There are SO many different jobs and titles a social worker can have besides being a Child Protective Investigator. That was never the route I wanted to go while going into this because my mom was actually a CPI and her job exhausted her, trust me, I heard so many stories. There are so many different areas of work you can switch to, which also don't require any extra type of licensing. They may prefer you have experience with a specific population of people, but really it doesn't matter. You can be a forensic social worker, offering behavioral and psychological services to the criminal justice system while working in a court room or advocate for a woman who is in a abusive relationship, a Nicu social worker, empowering families during times of crisis that they didn't expect, you can work at the VA, giving resources to homeless veterans, a psychiatric social worker, working with teenagers with eating disorders or adults who have schizophrenia, you can work in a hospital as a discharge planner collecting resources to help others, a school social worker, helping kids resolve social, behavioral, and emotional problems at school and at home, a hospice social worker, addressing the needs of people with late-stage illnesses, you can work at a kids camp as a social worker, with kids who have behavioral problems, who act out or are autistic... there are seriously so many ways you can work as a social worker, which is one of the main reasons why I choose this job. It is so broad!

"You'll never make any money"

• Let's get into the juicyness of this next assumption. While yes, being a social worker isn't the highest paying job.. you'll never be totally rich, but you can definitely make good money. I personally think becoming an LCSW is the best decision you can make as a social worker. Higher pay and more opportunities. If you're curious, just google some jobs on indeed.com. If you're thinking of becoming a social worker but want to stop your education after you get your Bachelors... unfortunately, the pay is so much less than what you deserve. There are probably many jobs without needing a Bachelors, that you could get that pay more. But if it's what you love to do, who's business is it?  But let's face it, if you're in the "helping profession" we all still care about the money even if our main goal is helping others. I definitely recommend getting your Masters if you're thinking about going into social work.  Also, probably the best place you can work (money wise0 as a social worker is in the healthcare field; being in a clinical setting.

How to get licensed as an LCSW? (Licensed Clinical Social Worker)

• If you decide to go down the path of becoming an LCSW, you register as an intern first and it takes two years to get all of your supervised hours, once finding another LCSW who is licensed to supervise you. Keep in mind, this info is in the state of Florida (where I live) so it may be different depending on where you live. You need to be doing these hours in a clinical setting. It's only an hour a week max, 100 hours in total, and then you have to take a 4 hour timed test, at whatever point you would like. If you get lucky, you may score your first job somewhere that will pay for your supervised hours or find someone who will do it for free... or else the payments can be pretty expensive. But being an LCSW is pretty much basically being a therapist. It's much more marketable than going into mental health, as a counselor, and getting your LMHC. So if you want to get into the helping profession in some sort of way, by being a counselor, therapist, or what have you; honestly getting your LCSW is the best way to go.

"You're a social worker? That takes a special person to do that"

• My final, most heard assumption. I never truly know if this is a heart-felt compliment, and people don't know how they make it sound, or if it's really just people being rude and feeling more superior than you for whatever reason. Well, whatever it is, it annoys me, lol. (A lot of things annoy me but whatever). So, yes. It can be hard. But any job can be hard. Typical corporate jobs, working behind a desk, can be extremely stressful with deadlines. Being a doctor can be extremely stressful, I would assume, when you're on call for four days straight and have barely slept, or when you literally have someone's life in the palm of your hand. There's also definitely pressure on certain social work jobs. When my mom was working in child protection her caseload was ridiculous. She was also on call some nights and would have to leave in the middle of the night to pick up a child. Now, she works from home with an insurance company and gives people resources or chats with them if they're feeling sad because they just found out their husband is cheating on them. She's never on call and never has to leave the guest room of her house. Any job can be hard and it doesn't always have to be hard. You can always change things. Change your job or find outlets to release your stress, like practicing self-care, playing the piano, singing, going to yoga classes. The good thing about my job is when I clock out, I'm done. I don't take anything home with me. But you know what, the same thing used to happen to me on crazy nights as a server working in a sports bar. And anyways, I'm not always going to be at this job. I like to think everything happens for a reason, and maybe the next thing from here will be even better. I think it's all about balance and loving what you do at the end of the day. Because honestly, being a social worker is so, so rewarding. I wish there were more "special" people out there who wanted to become one. 

I just think it is important that, no matter what you do, no matter how much money you're making or how many hours you're working, that you truly love what you do. 
Have a great weekend.

Lots of love,
Sammi

How to stay motivated and be a total girl boss

Hey guys! Today was one of my days off and I've realized, even on my days off, I'm always wanting to do something with my time. I know how to relax and I can certainly sit in front of my T.V. and binge watch a show, don't get me wrong, but only to a certain extent, and then I just feel like I need to get up and be productive. I basically just always feel like I need to be doing something. So, with that being said, I've thought of some important tips for anyone who is feeling stuck in a rut and wants to feel more motivated and productive. Of course, some of these are easier said than done, but for the most part, even the littlest of things can really help you change your mindset into a girl who knows how to get things done. Hopefully these tips can help you to channel into your inner girl boss!

• Get up early and make your bed. Okay, the 'making your bed' thing is really important to me. I just feel so "put together" when my bed is made. It really sets you up for the day, plus you can't crawl back into bed if it's been made. I try to wake up between 8am-9am because I feel like this is the ideal time (for me) to get enough beauty sleep while still having my whole day ahead of me. Mornings are just so happy to me, just that peaceful, quiet morning sun glow gets me in my feels. (Honestly sometimes I kinda feel like Snow White in the mornings bursting through my bedroom door and opening the french doors to my patio and breathing in that morning dewy air as if birds are going to fly in circles around me. Okay, that sounds dramatic, but it's kinda true haha).

• Make some coffee and eat a healthy breakfast. Breakfast is probably my favorite food of the day. I don't always eat it when I'm working in the early mornings though, but on my days off I always make breakfast for myself and Alex. Of course the coffee thing totally depends on if you even like coffee, but for me, coffee is an essential way to start my days productively. Some easy meals I make in the mornings are:
• Scrambled eggs mixed with spinach and shredded cheese.
• Vanilla greek yogurt with blueberries/strawberries, almond granola, and dark chocolate chips.
• Or just over-easy eggs, with sausage links, and raisin-cinnamon toast (with strawberry jam or just butter).

• Work-out, even if it's for 15 minutes. I am so bad with this one honestly, but you will just feel so much more motivated if you work-out, even for 15 minutes. You don't even have to go to the gym, just grab a yoga mat and follow some YouTube videos. You can look up anything, "morning work-out routines", "ab workouts", "easy at-home work outs". They have it all, and it's free and you don't have to drive anywhere.
• My current favorite Youtuber for at home workouts is Chloe Ting.

• Find a new hobby! If you're feeling uninspired and not motivated what-so-ever, maybe it's time to find a new hobby. This is kind of what I did with blogging. I've never wanted to start a blog before, but in the past year or two, watching vlogs and reading other people's blogs, something just clicked in my head and I was like, "ya know, I can do this, I might be really good at it, and I might really enjoy it". And I have loved it so far! About two months ago, now that I'm comfortable at my job and I've graduated college, I've kinda been itching to do something else with my time. I feel like I need to put something else out into the world. Like something was missing. If you're feeling that way, you should try taking up a new hobby too! It can be anything from playing a new instrument, trying trial yoga classes, buying and tending to some plants, baking, anything at all. I was actually just talking to my best friend on the phone today, who lives in another state, and she told me how she started a 2 week trial yoga class. I was thinking of doing that for a while but wasn't sure if I could get another friend on the same schedule, but my best friend told me she has just been going by herself. So don't feel bad if you're venturing out of your comfort zone to start a new hobby on your own. Just do it!

• Change your atmosphere. If you're just feeling stuck and can't seem to move forward with where you want to be, maybe think about changing your atmosphere and surroundings. This can be changing your home decor, living situation, taking a 10 minute walk with or without your earphones, or going down to a cute new coffee shop and reading a book. Maybe a new idea will spark up or you'll just find your inner boss girl and she'll be unleashed and you'll be so so motivated like never before. 

• Do some spring cleaning around your home. There isn't a better productive activity then vacuuming your home, wiping the counters, or mopping the floors, and then setting a candle. I mean, did you even clean if you don't set a candle afterwards? I don't know why this is a thing but it definitely is. It's important to prep your space, especially the space you live in. Because if you live in a messy environment, how are you ever going to get anything done?

• Plan a trip or fun activity for after important due dates. Always have something to look forward to! I feel like doing this helps motivate me because I'm like "Okay, I have this fun day planned or a trip in a few months, so in order for me to feel like I actual deserve this, I gotta get on my grind". I guess it's like having a reward set for you in advance, so if there's something important you have to get done, like an exam or that dreadful 20 page capstone paper, there's something at the end of that tunnel waiting for you as your reward for a good job done. If you don't have the funds for an actual trip, just plan a fun day out with something you've always wanted to try out or maybe something you love to do. But I really feel like it just makes you feel so much better if you have something to look forward to. Even if it's something planned months from now. The anticipation leading up to the trip or event always gives me something to feel good about (not to mention the planning and new clothes that you may buy ahead of time in preparation for the trip that just brings more excitement).

• Practice self-care. If you take care of your mind and your body,  you'll have a more positive mindset. And by just having a more positive mindset, it'll help you stay motivated and productive. Give yourself a manicure at home, put on a face mask, get into comfy clothes, whatever you gotta do, do it.

• Journaling and reading. Try to make a routine out of this. For journaling, you don't need to spend that much time on it, but maybe just take 10 minutes out of your day, before bed or as soon as you wake up. Write down things you want to get better at, or how to be a better friend, how to be more compassionate to others, favorite words, or just create a "to do" list of what you want to get done for the day. Reading is also very important. I mean, it's a big part of me, but I personally think everyone should take some time to read. It doesn't have to be every day, but I think it's good to always have a book available to you. Not that I need it, but I know for some people it's a good way to relax and fall asleep before bed. It could just be one chapter, it doesn't have to be much. Finding a good novel and getting that "I-can't-put-this-book-down" feeling, is the best.

• Plan your goals and write them down! You can know what your goals are and keep them in mind, but there's definitely something different when you take the time to write them down. When you see them mapped out and can even say "Okay I would love to have this done by this time period" and then it actually gets done, it's just so empowering. But at the same time, don't create too strict of time limits. Things happen and we're human, we can't expect to exceed all of our expectations. If you can't get something down in the time you want, don't feel bad about it. Instead of saying "I want this done on this specific date" instead, tell yourself  "It would be wonderful to get this done around this time period". Down below I linked a "Goal planning" worksheet I've actually used with clients in a past internship before I graduated. They loved it and I loved doing it with them. It's amazing how feeling motivated can really boost your self-esteem and it's even more amazing to realize how much you can actually get done when you set your mind to it. Just click on the picture and it'll take you to the website where you can download and print it for free!

• Watch vlogs, read blogs, or listen to podcasts of others who inspire you to channel you inner girl boss! I honestly haven't gone super deep into the YouTube world and I'm sure there are some great people out there I don't know about, but one of my favorite vloggers who motivate me is Kristin Johns. She is just the sweetest person I have never met in my life, to be honest. Also, I love Danielle Carolan. She's a total "girl boss" and such a young, independent, and motivational gal. I love her (not just because she's from Tampa either). She's also got a podcast called "Gals on the Go" you should check out. I also am in love with the podcast, "What We Said" (my personal favorite) Two girls who have been best friends since high school, Chelsea and Jaci, are hilarious, fun and super sarcastic together and their energy just flows perfectly. They have guest speakers on at times who may talk about health/nutrition, creating an audience, mental health, and sometimes they have funny podcasts about "embarrassing moments" or "family traditions".  They also both have Youtube channels that I like watching. I honestly think a lot of my "new-found motivation", if you'd like to call it, has come from listening to others who are independent, go-getters and seeing or hearing how they live. 
• Some other good podcasts are: The Morning Toast, Girls Gotta Eat, Okay Sis, RISE podcast, Recovering from Reality (this is an AMAZING podcast for people who have struggled with addiction/mental health), and Pretty Basic.

• Change your attitude and practice mindfulness! I think I'll end up doing another whole blog post on "mindfulness", so I won't go into it too much. But really just look into if you don't know too much about it. Even just type it into YouTube and you can listen to some really awesome people talk about the concept of mindfulness. It's just so important and I think having a positive mindset of "the glass if half full" is so so important. 
• Here's a great book to practice mindfulness! (Not that you even need books to do so, but it can definitely help motivate you.)
  
  
  

All of you are amazing and can do amazing things! I'm a firm believer in, if you want something enough, and work towards that something, and actually envision it, you can achieve whatever it is you want. The little things are more important than you think and you all have this one life to live, so live it to the fullest.

Oh yeah and here's a picture of how the end of my afternoon went. I was jotting down ideas for this blog post and decided a change in atmosphere was in order. Being outside sometimes makes me feel more productive.

Well, that's it for today's blog! Have an amazing day everyone,

- Lots of love, Sammi