The Life-Changing Experience of a Social Work Field Placement Away From Home

by Alex Morgan, MSW

     Where are you going now? That was the first question anyone asked me when I was home. Alabama has been my home all of my life. I was born in Tuscaloosa, raised in a small town called Arab, and came back to Tuscaloosa for college. I completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Alabama, as expected.

    But, to everyone’s surprise, including my own, I did both of my social work internships away from home. For my undergraduate degree, I had a dual major: social work and Spanish. The idea to do an internship in Mexico came from an elective summer course I took in Mexico my sophomore year. During those few weeks, I fell in love with the social services there. Two years later, I made the decision to pioneer a field placement there, and, with the support of wonderful administrators and instructors, my dream of living in Mexico was my reality for four months.

    This placement did not come easily. We had to find one of the social services agencies that could complete the University of Alabama’s field placement applications. It took time, patience, and learning to adjust to uncertainty until Dr. Debra Nelson-Gardell, the School of Social Work’s international field placement coordinator, found ¡VAMOS!, which was perfect, considering they have an office in the United States.

    I also could not have done the placement without Dr. Ellen Csikai, who was my field supervisor and spent hours on Skype speaking with my supervisors in Mexico and me to make sure I was learning what I needed to. She also had the connection with a school in Cuernavaca that ran a host home program. I luckily got to stay in a home with the same family I had stayed with during my first class. I grew very close to that family and loved living with them.

    While with ¡VAMOS!, which is a network of community centers in and around Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico, I learned a lot about social work and myself. I went alone to work in a country in which I had to explain my profession while learning my craft, in my second language. I lived with a Spanish-speaking family and only heard English when I called home or watched Netflix. I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the people I lived and worked with (so no sweet tea or toast for breakfast). I ate what they ate and watched soccer and telenovelas. I played dominoes with the ladies in the neighborhood and celebrated birthdays with my new circle.

    To say the experience was life-changing would be an understatement. As a direct result of that internship, I learned and developed flexibility, independence, confidence, creativity, drive, passion, and Spanish fluency in a way that would simply not have been achievable in any placement in the United States. I made memories and connections that will last a lifetime, and I grew astoundingly as a global citizen, social worker, and person. I am so grateful for the opportunity I was given and for the wonderful experience I had.

    For my second MSW field placement, I was selected through a competitive interview process to be part of the Washington, DC, internship program with the University of Alabama. I was placed with an organization called the Latin American Youth Center, where I worked with a Drop-In Center for unstably housed youth, as well as a transitional housing program.

    I had to find housing and pay for it there, which was also a challenge. Housing in DC was way more expensive than in Mexico.

    I grew as a professional in that setting, as well, as I learned more about how to interview, network, assess, and draw professional boundaries. I also had the opportunity there to regularly practice my Spanish, which was important to me. It was also a great and valuable experience, as I dealt with a large client base, juggling responsibilities, and having my own caseload for the first time.

    A great instructor, Carroll Phelps, worked as both my field supervisor and policy instructor. She orchestrated amazing opportunities for me and the other DC students, such as seeing a case argued before the Supreme Court, touring the Holocaust Museum with a survivor, and advocating for legislative change in Congress.

    The thing they don’t tell you about going away for internships is the emotional fortitude it takes. Leaving home, leaving the comfort of knowing what to expect around you, leaving the comfort of having a friend and family support group, and missing out on your family and friends’ lives for a large chunk of time is hard. You have to make new friends in a new place, just to turn around and leave at the end of your time there. When you come back, everyone seems to only want to hear a 5-minute synopsis of this huge experience that you probably have not had a chance to really digest yet, and by the time you want to talk about it, most have moved on.

    These placements also were not cheap. The School of Social Work found me a much needed scholarship for my undergraduate placement in Mexico, and a fellowship I was awarded for my master’s made the DC placement possible. Both of those scholarships came through the amazing School of Social Work staff advocating for me, as well as my commitment to my grades.

    So, is it worth it? Although going away from home had some down sides, I also know that these adventures, as well as my other times abroad, have given me the experience I needed to tackle the other adventures that life has thrown at me now that I am back in Alabama. The adventures of graduating for the last time (for now, at least), finding my first job in my profession, and leaving Tuscaloosa were all made easier by those internships and the knowledge I gained about myself through those experiences. I now knew from experience that I could survive uncertainty, doubt, the unknown, and the new. I can honestly say that without leaving home for my internships, I would not have felt as ready or capable as I did for these new adventures in my life. I know that I will continue to grow and adapt to any new situation, because I have done it before and not only survived, but thrived. So, yes, it was worth it, and I would recommend it to anyone.

    Here are a few tips to keep in mind if you’re looking for such an experience.

  • Start planning and researching early—as in a year or more in advance. Speak to your advisor about the placement you want, and start researching scholarships. Get your vaccinations and your passport. These things can take some time.
  • Don’t be afraid of rejection. Some field placements won’t work out. Some scholarships won’t be awarded to you, and your first plan and your final plan may not even look remotely the same. The sooner you start, the less stressful this aspect will be.
  • Do your research. Will you need a new phone? Will you speak the language? How will you eat? Will you need a converter for the outlets? Where will you live? Will your driver’s license or other ID expire while you are away? Will you have internet access? Do you need to buy textbooks before you go? Think of everything you can and then go to others who have been abroad and advisors and ask their advice. They will think of something you didn’t.
  • Have fun. These are the memories and the moments that last a lifetime. Take pictures, look at the sunset, celebrate the holidays, and remember that every day is one day closer to returning to home and normalcy. Make every moment last.  

Alex Morgan, MSW, is employed as a Program Services Coordinator with a therapeutic foster care program. She received her MSW in May 2019.