I think the Grief, Loss, and Bereavement class will be particularly interesting, if intense. It really provides such an opportunity to discuss parts of life rarely (comfortably) addressed by our culture. When my step-mother passed away several years ago, it suddenly became clear to me that people had no idea how to interact in a time of grief. A startling number of those around chose to disappear from sight after the funeral, seemingly lacking the appropriate words or actions (or ability) to collectively deal with the loss. Then, last spring, one of my MSW classmates and I started discussing the HBO series, Six Feet Under. How brilliant! A show that addresses loss and death as a normal phase of human existence!

I wanted to learn more, and am glad to be enrolled in this course. During the first class, we did several participatory exercises including reading individually meaningful lyrics, poetry, or prose about loss. I read a poem, Death is Nothing at All, which I found shortly after my step-mother’s death. Immediately prior to the reading, I had commented that I felt strangely unaffected by the death, though the intense emotion contained within my voice as I read the poem proceeded to take me by surprise. Amazing how much little things can teach us about ourselves! It was also interesting to hear the selections by other students, and their reasons for the choices. This semester looks like it will be filled with amazing learning experiences. . now to get to that homework . .

That was the quote that greeted me on the whiteboard the first day of Policy class one year ago. The quote made sense to me at the time, though I’m now starting to understand the implication of the statement more fully.

On the first day of both my MSW and MBA programs, we were told (in each case) that the program would both affect and change us as people. Perhaps I’m just stubborn and dislike being told what will happen (and those of you who know me in person know that I’d rather just experiment and think through concepts on my own), but I can’t say that I thoroughly grasped or believed the statement in either case. Regardless, I now see the truth in it (hence I’m dedicating a post to the quote).

However, the ways in which each of these programs affect its students is completely different than the other. If “learning to be a social worker" involves "learning to be yourself on purpose”, than I’d suggest the parallel concept that business school, then, trains students in the art of “impression management.” (A term very artfully suggested to me by one of my former MBA colleagues who is, herself, considering a career switch similar to my own).

I think it’s powerful to have experienced and understood the respective personal changes learned through each of these two academic programs. Not that I’ve, by any means, mastered either, but rather that I can see the combination to be a strong one once fully learned.

I’m currently in Chicago visiting one of my best friends. In early July, I decided to spend my summer in the CT/NY area, and systematically turned down invitations from friends and family to travel all over the world. For a variety of reasons, however, I decided to cap my summer off with a short end-of-summer visit.

This vacation has been incredibly low key – long walks and conversation over decaffeinated skim-milk lattes. While traveling, I have enjoyed having the time and space to re-read Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian Weiss; a book written in 1988 by a psychiatrist about his first (and accidental) experience with past-life regression therapy (including his acquired insights into reincarnation and the purpose of physical existence). It is a book I thoroughly appreciate, as I have long felt that the information contained within its covers align closely with my own intuitive beliefs. I am not opening this as a forum for spiritual debate, but rather stating that it has been wonderful to have to time to consider the contents of this groundbreaking work.

As I ponder this book (and the meaning of individual lives, lessons, and purposes), I look forward to starting a new phase of the MSW program this week. I, particularly, look forward to the “Grief, Loss, and Bereavement” course that will be fulfilling my elective requirement this semester. My re-read of the book has certainly seemed to be well timed, and as the summer gives way to a new school year, I look forward to seeing how my thoughts develop through this semester.

So this summer, Thursday afternoons have turned into a (somewhat) regular gathering with a few of my classmates. As mentioned in an earlier post, one of the most fantastic surprises about the program has been the close group of caring, smart, like-minded people I have met through class. Last school year, all of our evening classes at the Westchester campus were held on Tuesday evenings, and we would finish class around 10PM. At that time, anyone who could make it would head over to Applebee's to unwind. During that time, our class became close. It has been fantastic to continue similar gatherings over the summer (at much more interesting establishments), and I look forward to the Applebee's visits this upcoming semester (which will take place following our Grief, Loss, and Bereavement course . . . and, I’m sure, it will yield some cheerful conversation afterward).

Granted, I’m not sure I exactly had two months “off.” I’ve been working on setting up my own business, and catching up on various other neglected areas of my life (such as in-depth house cleaning. Wahoo, exciting life here). I have, however, had the luxury of setting my own schedule this summer, which has resulted in the most personally satisfying and productive summer vacation of my life.

I decided to forego a summer of exotic international travel to hang around the CT/NY area. I’ve had ample time to see good friends, cook my locally-grown organic CSA veggies, and sit at the beach watching waves. I can’t even conceive of a more wonderful way to have spent my summer.

At any rate, I walked in to a beautiful cozy classroom surrounded by three walls of large windows, a large round table, and 9 classmates sitting in a circle (who over the course of a school year ended up becoming good friends). I had planned to walk in, sit by myself, not speak with anyone, take notes, decide the program was not for me, and walk out in silence. That was my way of anonymously deciding whether taking social work classes, even as a non-matriculated student, was “right” for me.

However, the moment I walked in (late, since I only semi-successfully extracted myself from work that evening) all of my classmates were incredibly friendly. I was coming from a workplace where no one bothered to say “hi, how are you” and no one would have cared had I volunteered that information, and suddenly I was in a room full of the most wonderfully friendly strangers! (And, being fairly friendly, myself, I couldn’t resist being drawn into the enthusiasm in the room).

I may have been incredibly scared by the prospect of being in “social work” classes (gasp, not *me*! I was a scientist, a business person, but not a social worker), but I adored my classmates and couldn’t wait to return the following week to a room full of people who said “hi, how are you” . . and actually cared to hear the answer! That was something I was used to hearing from close friends, but not future colleagues. Maybe I’m rambling right now. Maybe the magnitude of the contrast is lost if you, the reader, are not coming from the finance world. What I am trying to say, however, is that the classroom setting, the professor, and my classmates made me feel welcome and excited to be there in a way I hadn’t anticipated. At the end of the day, the subject matter and prospect of a career as a Social Worker did suck me in as much as anything else, but my overall experience was a wonderful surprise too.

By the end of the semester, I was hooked! Social Work School felt so right to me, and I was at home among my classmates. I officially enrolled before my second semester, and am now looking forward to attending full-time during my 2nd year in the Program!