"Welcome! It’s truly my honor and pleasure to have the opportunity to welcome you to the first day of this next step on your social work educational and professional path! We’re so delighted you’re here not only because you chose to pursue your degree with us at Stony Brook, but because YOU made this choice to pursue an educational path that prepares you to be reflexive, nimble, engaged, and to work collaboratively to – in some way or another—meet the epic challenges of this 21st century world that we’re co-constructing. You chose a path that’s about change, about empathy and social justice, and about wanting to make the world a better place. We come to social work for all sorts of reasons, often our own experiences in the world inform why we are driven to help other people, why we are driven to want to be change agents, why we are driven to want to unravel structural inequities and to collaborate toward empowerment. Sometimes it’s our own experiences, our own relationships, sometimes it’s in our very DNA, and sometimes there are things we observe about other people’s experiences, or about social structures and systems and we just can’t sit by and watch, or wait, or accept what’s wrong or unjust or inhumane.
Social work is grounded in a strong and sturdy set of professional values, it’s grounded in a notion of situatedness, of person in environment, it’s grounded in the idea that there while challenges are all around us, there are also strengths and resources to call upon. It’s grounded in a deep and abiding commitment to social justice, equity, inclusion. You’ve decided to enter into your professional education at a time when the world couldn’t possibly need social workers, helpers, more, in every corner of our human and social systems. We’re living at a time of enormous upheaval, unprecedented challenges, locally and globally.
I know this is a time when you all may be experiencing your own challenges, some anxiety, and perhaps a sense of uncertainty. It’s also a time when in the face of all of those challenges and that uncertainty that we have enormous opportunities, ones we might not have been able to see or name without the challenges all around us. When things are in such a profound state of upheaval and disruption, we can see differently if we’re willing to look. There are opportunities to do things differently, to make real change, but not alone. So, not only do you bring yourself and your drive with you here, we’re in this together. You’re in this together. Let’s take a few moments to be as present and as mindful as possible. Today is important – you’ll only have one orientation to this degree program and this is it! First, look around the room – take in these faces, these people. They are your peers, your colleagues, your network, and hopefully your friends – you are entering into this shared experience together, that makes for a powerful and important system of collaboration and support. Okay, let’s do one more thing to be in this moment as mindfully as possible. I’d like to ask you to close your eyes briefly if you’re comfortable doing so, and reflect on what drives you. What brought you here to social work. This could be an experience of yours, an emergent issue, a population, a cause, it could be a memory, or a passion, it could be a person, a story, or whatever it is for you. Do you have it? Okay take a second and make a quick note somewhere for yourself (pen and paper, on your phone). A word or two, somewhere where you can find it and look back at it when you need to. I’ll tell you a very quick memory of mine [the “HELPING COMPANY STORY”]. Flash forward a couple of decades later, and my brother became a psychologist and I became a social worker -- my path led me down all sorts of roads, some paved, some dirt, some that I had to forge myself, as I found my way to and in social work. I tell you this because what drives you can sometimes run so deep and be so much of who you are and what you’re about, and it's really important as a social worker to be flexible.
So, I encourage you to hold onto what drives you, but also, as you go, allow yourselves to be open, to let the experiences you’re going to have, and to allow what you learn with and from your colleagues to help you refine that driver, sculpt it, allow it to be as flexible and pliable as you can, but don’t lose it, instead own it and with a reflective and critical lens, allow yourself to construct the most conscious use of self you can, as you define your paths as a social worker.
I encourage you to dive into uncertainty with a desire to learn, grow, to take ownership of this process. Social work education isn’t about learning how to do stuff and content alone, but it’s about learning how to think, learning how you think about thinking, how you make decisions. It’s about critically applying ideas and evidence in practice. It’s about learning how to DO as a social worker, how to BE a social worker.
I encourage you allow your minds to be poised to question, be open, to want to know and hear each other. To want to listen and speak with civility, grace, empathy, and openness. To challenge yourselves and others. so that you can be as prepared as possible to go out and do what it is you came here with that drive to do.
And remember, most importantly, in all of that you are not alone. We are here for and with you. I can’t say enough how truly amazing our faculty and staff here in the SSW are – they will be right here with you as you do the hard, exciting, engaged, work of developing as social workers. So congratulations! I couldn’t be more excited with you knowing what’s beginning for you at this very moment. I’ll look forward to the opportunity to get to know you over time and welcome to our School of Social Welfare!"
~Shari E. Miller, PhD
Dean & Professor
