- by Emma Maskell -
Within the Nazareth University social work department, seniors complete an intensive internship placement. My placement is at the Cancer Support Community at Gilda’s Club. I feel very fortunate to be able to be at a placement that I love so much. I am always doing something new! I have worked with support groups, had a hand in creating programs and events, I’ve shadowed different areas of social work within the oncology community, and so much more. I have also been fortunate to collaborate with other social work seniors who have offered to come in and teach a class on dance and movement to different groups of people at my placement.
Hannea Milliman and Zoe Perry are both social work seniors and both have a background in dancing. Hannea is a double major with dance and Zoe has a minor in it. At my internship, I did some research on how beneficial dancing and movement is to a person. Interdisciplinary collaboration is something that is taught within the social work major. That it is critical to work with other fields, majors, and disciplines on projects and goals together. Hannea and Zoe had the dance experience that I was looking for. They have been dancing for quite some time and are extremely passionate about it. We met several times to talk about what the program was going to look like and the goals that we all had for it. When the time came for the program it was so wonderful to see the members of CSC participate and really enjoy the dancing. One of the most memorable moments was when each person created a dance move that represented how they felt in that moment.
Having an internship that prepares you for the social work career is an amazing experience. Nazareth University’s social work program really prepares you for your journey into a career in this field. Naz is giving their students real world experience that is priceless, that is giving us the opportunity to be prepared for our life’s work.
