alyssa2559

Hi everyone! I've been browsing this thread and the one from last year and it's been very helpful for answering questions, but I'm also very nervous about applying! I'm currently finishing up my honours degree in Psychology (thesis is evaluating student perceptions on bystander intervention and sexual violence on campus) and I think I have quite a bit of social work related experience (probably around 3200 hours, maybe a bit more) but the majority of it is volunteer work. I've seen someone else share that they considered working in a café to be social work related experience, but I'm confused about whether to include that or not on my summary forms? I had a job lined up as a residential counsellor in a group home for adults with disabilities this fall, but unfortunately had to put it on hold because I tore my ACL and meniscus and they didn't feel comfortable having me work with a knee brace. Instead, I've been managing a local café while also working 2 other jobs. My first choice is Dal, but I'm also applying to Carleton, UVic, and either King's College Western or UBC Okanagan. I'm also a little bit confused about how much personal experience to actually include within the personal intent statements. I understand that committees want to know more about your personal experiences, but I feel like I'm trying to find the happy medium between sharing past personal experiences and trauma dumping- I'm not used to applications like those for the MSW! Here's my current social work related experience, for reference: - Currently café manager for a local café (I manage a team of 3 other staff members, organize private bookings, create café menus/offerings, generally interact with the public!) - I am a student coordinator for my university's sexual violence prevention program (paid position). I organize and facilitate sexual violence prevention education, organize awareness events like Take Back The Night, frequently handle disclosures (not part of the job but a consequence of being involved in this work!) - I founded a pen pal project in April 2020 to tackle social isolation and loneliness (fostering intergenerational relationships by pairing seniors with university students and younger elementary/high school students) that continues presently and received a year-long grant from my university. I personally managed a team of over 200 volunteer participants and worked with many community services providers. I attended and was featured at 2 conferences, featured in quite a few news sources. Have an ongoing holiday card event that I launched to provide handwritten cards to socially isolated individuals/ organizations serving seniors over the holidays (collected almost 600 cards last year, aiming for 1000 this year!) - Shift lead (volunteer) for our university's Peer Support Program, supporting students with mental health and sexual violence. - I have over 4 years of paid and volunteer experience coaching youth soccer players and received the youth coach of the year award for 2021. I also have a year of coaching experience with child and youth athletes with special needs. - I was a COVID support assistant with my university, directly supporting isolating students - Volunteer tutor for adults, providing ESL tutoring and literacy education - Volunteer for an after-school sports program for Syrian refugee children - 2 years of volunteer experience in the emergency department of a local hospital Would love any insight on what to include for social work related experience and tips/best practices for statements of intent! Thank you in advance and best of luck to everyone applying!!