I guess this qualifies as a thing, yeah? I turned in my application for diploma for the summer semester. And I realized, ya’ll, that’s just six short months away. It felt like it would take forever to get my BSW. And then when I had that, the MSW still seemed so very far away. And now, it’s breathing down my neck. I’m pretty excited about that. And a bit trepidatious.

To calm my nerves yesterday, I looked at job postings. Yep, they are still hiring social workers here in Maryland. In fact, there’s an opening right now in a hospice unit. I’m taking it on faith that there will be a spot for me in a nursing home or hospice when the time comes. I’m hopeful that it will be with the VA, but we’ll see.

I guess you have noticed that I’m having a harder time coming up with 500 words on days I work. I’m not allowed to take pictures in the facility because of patient privacy issues. And naturally, I can only talk about my work in very general terms. I can, however, tell you about today’s social work moment. Today, just as she had on Tuesday, my supervisor added other team members to case notes I had written. That was a social work moment because it told me that what I was writing was adding useful information that is of value in caring for these veterans, not just for the social workers, but for the rest of the team. And what that means is that I am actually doing social work, folks. I’m doing the things I wanted to do when I started this journey four years ago.