My journey began in 2012, when I first decided I wanted to become a social worker. Previously a pre-med student, I realized I wanted to help people and make an impact in a different way than I could as a physician. I wanted to create meaningful change alongside the clients and communities I served. I wanted to promote social justice and advocate for policies and legislation that positively impact those clients and communities, while also fighting to tear down and remove harmful legislation that further disadvantages them. I wanted to provide individual therapy to adolescents and expand access to affordable and timely mental health services. My ultimate goal was to become a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and establish my own non-profit that provides DBT-A sessions to adolescents and their families, who may not otherwise be able to afford such costly interventions.
It started at Austin Community College, where I enrolled in my first ever social work course. Not long after my time in Austin, TX, I moved to Nacogdoches where I became a lumberjack and completed my Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) at Stephen F. Austin State University in December 2018. One year later I would again be walking across the stage, to receive my Master of Social Work (MSW) degree at UT Arlington in December 2019. Following graduation, I left for the Peace Corps in January 2020, ready to begin my two years of service as a secondary education English teacher in Myanmar. I had dreamed of serving with the Peace Corps for a decade and knew that my ‘ultimate goal’ of becoming an LCSW was worth putting on hold, just for a little while. It’s funny how things work out sometimes…
In March 2020 my cohort and I were evacuated from Myanmar and returned to the United States as the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Although I had hoped things would resolve quickly and I’d be back in my beloved Mon State shortly, the world went into quarantine and had other ideas for my service abroad. With financial pressures mounting, I accepted my first official full-time social work position as a Social Worker at Rusk State Hospital. Still hopeful that one day soon I would receive an email stating that we would be able to return to service, I stayed in East Texas for another several months. As those months passed, and my chances to return to Myanmar appeared to become smaller and smaller, I relocated to DFW and began my current position as a licensed social worker in an inpatient psychiatric facility. With the Peace Corps now on hold this time, I decided it was finally the time to begin supervision toward my clinical licensure, so that maybe by the time I was able to return to service, I would carry the title of LCSW. Supervision is, at minimum, a two-year-long process that ends in a painstakingly anxiety-producing licensure exam.
Today, January 31, 2023, was finally the day this long journey came to a close. As I braved icy roads and pouring thundersleet to get to my testing center, I reflected back on the past decade and what brought me to this moment. I’ve passed the LBSW and the LMSW exams, but that still didn’t alleviate my fears that I wouldn’t pass the last, final, examination. My final step in my journey. No pressure.
2 hours and 37 minutes later, I walked out of the testing facility like I was floating on air (or maybe I was just gliding across the icy sidewalks).
PASS
This one simple word brought me to tears. 10 years of studying until my eyes couldn’t stay open, 10 years of combing through research paper after research paper, 10 years of group projects and literature reviews, 10 years of reading the Code of Ethics from front to back, 10 years of tears, 10 years of cursing under my breath, 10 years of moments of doubt and 10 years of moments to celebrate. I did it. I fulfilled my goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker. I am officially a licensed therapist.
As I write this, I sit across from a glowing neon sign in my home office that reads ‘you are enough’. So much throughout this journey I struggled with moments of feeling inadequate, sometimes even undeserving. I chose this phrase specifically to remind myself that I am, no matter what has happened or what will happen, enough. That I matter, that I have purpose. This message is the same one that I convey to my clients. You are enough. You matter, you have purpose.
I look forward to beginning this new chapter as a licensed therapist, and cannot wait to see what lies ahead.
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