Despite the ongoing challenges of the pandemic we all face in our daily lives, not all is bad news. Jennifer Luna, director of the DiNitto Career Center, shares how some economic and systemic consequences of the pandemic may provide new opportunities for social workers searching for jobs in 2021. The job market After an initial […]
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Reflections of a first-gen social work student
By Grace Farley, BSW ’21 In my second year on the Forty Acres, I was hired as the inaugural resident assistant (RA) for the First-Generation Living Learning Community, UT Austin’s first residence hall for students who are the first in their families to go to college. As an RA, I was trained to provide residents […]
Winter of 2021
By Nicole Gollis Golden, MSSW ’04 On Thursday at 5:00 a.m, power was restored at my home in Austin after 75 hours without heat or electricity. For those few days, the temperature read 44 degrees inside during the daytime, while lows outside dipped into the single digits at night. In a dark and cold cave-like […]
Documenting racial injustice as a Black photojournalist
By Montinique Monroe | Texas Steve Hicks In May, a few weeks before George Floyd’s killing shook the nation, I was the only journalist to attend Michael Ramos’ gravesite ceremony in Austin. Ramos, who was Black and Hispanic, was shot by police officer Christopher Taylor on April 24. Officers, who were responding to a 911 […]
What are you thankful for?
By Allan Hugh Cole Jr. It’s bedtime for our young daughters, Meredith and Holly. They have taken baths, put on pajamas, and brushed teeth. Their mom Tracey and I have read a nightly lineup of books to them. The smell of lavender baby shampoo, lingering on still damp brown bangs that fall just above sleepy […]
Mapping out your social work career
Strategic career planning involves identifying opportunities in your current situation that will propel your career to the next level. Jennifer Luna, director of the DiNito Career Center, shares six strategies to ensure that your next career move will contribute to a clear and logical career trajectory when you put it on your résumé. 1. Explore […]
Trailblazers for perinatal mental health
Two Steve Hicks School professors tackle maternal health in Central Texas Elaine Cavazos As a mother who experienced postpartum depression and mood disorders first-hand, professor Elaine Cavazos has dedicated her life’s work to reproductive mental health. Cavazos is passionate about serving all parents and is concerned about the barriers that keep marginalized populations from receiving quality mental health services during this […]
A daughter’s promise
By Melina Acosta, MSSW ’19 Are you learning anything in school that could help me?” This was a question my father asked me one weekend in November 2013 during my first semester of college. He was experiencing depression and suicidality and I had no idea how to support him, nor did I understand what it meant to be depressed or suicidal. […]
Balancing the art and science of psychiatric diagnosis
During Deborah Cohen’s first job, as a case manager for adults with a serious mental illness, an older, experienced psychiatrist told her that she would be working with many African American clients, because schizophrenia was more prevalent in this population. “This was presented to me as a fact, with no explanation needed,” Cohen said. “These […]
LinkedIn for social work
LinkedIn can help social workers discover connections to people and organizations, search for jobs, find resources for clients, extend networks of trusted contact, and engage with professionals from other disciplines. Jennifer Luna, director of the DiNitto Career Center, shares tips for strategically using LinkedIn to help your career and your clients. PROFILE Your LinkedIn […]
