The “World of Work” vs. that classroom life

The biggest difference I’ve been able to differentiate the “world of work” from academic life is the emphasis on flexibility and adaptation. Everything is a learning process. People, tasks, and obstacles come and go. There is no syllabus with guidelines that leads you through the process. There is no rubric for how well you answer a crisis call. Every day is different and there is no schedule of when things are going to happen or even what things are going to happen. In the working world, things are just going to happen, and then you have to move from there.

One second I’m doing statistics, then in a few minutes I’m answering crisis calls, then not too long after I’m making crafts for Metro’s Survivor Dinner. I like having a bunch of different things to do, and having every day be a little different makes working more exciting.

Furthermore, it’s up to you the amount of work and effort you put forward. At Metro, the social workers emphasize to the interns that you can’t help everyone. People are going to call for shelter who may need it, but simply are not victims of domestic violence or sexual assault. However, while Metro may not be able to help every caller directly, it is still possible to make a difference. Instead of simply hanging up on a caller who could not be a Metro client, you can direct them to services that are available to them. For example, all homeless women don’t necessarily fall under our domain, but there are a number of shelters that are happily ready to help these women in need. Instead of telling them we’re not the right fit, I have the ability to connect them to other resources, and can help them in that way.

Finally, one great thing about working at Metro is the diverse group of people both working at and utilizing the shelter. Within the shelter there are people from different parts of the state, coming from different backgrounds, with ages ranging from infants to as old as 75. Each has their own story. I find this invigorating to work with. Attending a private, expensive university, diversity is not something one can necessarily encounter without seeking it out at Tulane.

And while education is structured by grouping people together based off of age, I have loved working with women in different age brackets than myself. The women I have worked with have been so interesting. I spoke with the stalking specialist, for example, and she shared some incredibly interesting stories with me while I searched google for some information for her about birth certificates. This woman was around the same age as my mom, but it was really cool getting to learn from her experiences and being able to use things that I’m good at to help her out, too!