Commitment in Action
Community service is a degree requirement as well as a passion for SDSUs social work students.
In June 2012, SDSU NewsCenter introduced the Aztec community to one of our remarkable students, Jesus Montoya, who was then an incoming social work major.
Quadriplegic after a car accident at 21 years old, Jesus does not let his disability define him. He continues to strive toward goals that many would consider nearly impossible. We take up the story as Jesus, along with about 100 other senior social work students are about to begin their year-long field internships with one of the social service agencies in San Diego County, starting August 25.
Jesus will intern 16 hours a week at Dreams for Change, a San Diego nonprofit providing innovative programming to meet social needs surrounding poverty issues. All programming takes a multi-faceted approach, to not only address the current issues, but also look toward long-term stabilization and solutions. Jesus will be working with homeless families who live in their cars, their last asset. He will provide case management services to help them get back on their feet and achieve independence.
All SDSU social work undergraduates participate in 450 hours of internship hours over two semesters in their final year as an integral part of their degree program. Students gain hands-on skills as professional social workers while they intern with a wide array of social service agencies in the county.
The School of Social Work also has a graduate program of 200 students who provide 500-600 volunteer internship hours each year to serve vulnerable populations. The school partners with more than 300 social service agencies such as hospitals, prisons, domestic violence shelters, child welfare services, probation, substance abuse and mental health treatment programs, homeless shelters and nursing homes.
Jesus is typical of many of our social work students, who aspire to make a difference in the world by working with individuals in the community to advocate for social justice.
He initially considered a career in graphic design, but his heart took him down a different path.
“After seeing what social workers did when then they worked with me, I knew what I needed to do,” Jesus said. “I wanted to help people, maybe people who are in a situation like mine, and make their lives better.”
Jesus lives in a nursing home in Santee, but navigates public transport to get to school and his internship site. Like all of our students, he makes a huge sacrifice of time and energy because he is passionate about serving the underserved and those without a voice in society.
As internships are increasingly recognized as a vital step to getting a job in the field after graduation, the School of Social Work has incorporated this significant internship component into both the undergraduate and graduate programs as part of the accrediting standards dictated by the Council on Social Work Education.
The students and the community agree that both are mutually enriched by this partnership. The School of Social Work is particularly grateful to our volunteer field instructors — the professionals who work in social service agencies and provide the day-to-day supervision and training for our students. We could not run these internship programs without our dedicated field instructors, who have committed to train the next generation of social workers.
Candy Elson is director of field education for SDSU’s School of Social Work. A licensed clinical social worker and educator, she worked for 15 years in the public and private mental health system before joining SDSU in 2007.
This story is a part of a series "Aztec Voices," featuring personal stories from SDSU faculty, staff and students about their discoveries; academic-related travel; aha! moments; long-term projects finally coming to fruition; or transformational experiences. If you would like to submit a column for "Aztec Voices," please contact SDSU's Marketing and Communications department.
