You hear the profession social work and what comes to mind is the busy schedule due to massive workload. This is not something that I thought I would have to face during my studies, but as social work students we do have some occasional longer days.
What I study
Being a second-year student, I am doing four modules which are:
- Skills for Social Work
- Placement
- Community, Advocacy and Social Change
- Social Research Methods
There are aspects of the modules that I enjoy and some that I do not enjoy as much, but that is the same as most courses. In life, there are always going to be certain things you prefer to other things. I’ll give you a brief overview of what a day in the life of a social work student looks like.
How I study
Doing a course like social work you can rest assured that all lectures and seminars are beneficial. Lectures and seminars are usually what uni students attend to gain the required knowledge. Lectures are where lecturers teach you a specific topic that will help in an assessment or exam. A seminar is almost like an extension of a lecture, as due to being in a smaller group questions can be asked about things that may not be understood in a lecture.
As well as this, each week we are given specific tasks to complete before the seminar which helps to build a discussion during the session. This year I have also had two-hour long workshops as well. I tend to enjoy these as I think I gain more from them (they are very interactive) rather than the one-hour lecture.
A typical day for me
My Tuesdays usually start with a workshop related to placements at 10am – 12pm. So far, this has consisted of professionals from community groups attending our sessions and giving us valuable information about the services that they provide to those in the community. After this I have a big break until my next workshop. I usually go to the library to get some seminar prep done for that week. I tend to find this is a good use of my time as it is practical.
My next workshop starts at 3pm – 5pm. This is one of my favourites of the whole week as it is more focused on things that I like to learn about, and more targeted to my degree.
This is a typical example of a day in the life of a second-year social work student.
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