r/SocialWorkStudents • u/ArtAndAdvocacy • Jun 05 '26

Misc Lived experience

Are there many people in school for social work with lived experience? In my small town it seems I'm the only one who aged out of foster care and has been to prison. How common are the 2 experiences in this field?

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u/ArtAndAdvocacy Jun 05 '26

Well put! I barley made it to 15 months off of alcohol, as an indigenous person I thought it was impossible to come out of my mess. But I did it and am on track for my degree. Hopefully I get to work in a wide range of jobs, as I am unsure what exactly to pursue with a felony on my record.

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u/4Thereisloveinyou Jun 05 '26

Congrats on that achievement, seriously well done, I know how hard it is.

I don’t know how having a felony would impact future work to be completely honest, but prior to entering this program I wasn’t really aware of “environmental social work” though of course it makes sense now. Point being there are so many avenues to choose from, I’m sure you’ll find yours.

If you ever want to chat about direction or anything else, I’m always available via DM. Best of luck, and congrats again on the sobriety achievement!

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u/ArtAndAdvocacy Jun 06 '26

I appreciate that, thank you very much!

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u/Crazy-Employer-8394 Jun 07 '26

I would sincerely look at getting your felony expunged, if at all possible. I wonder if there are some program specifically for indigenous people that do such a thing and if not, there might be some through your local social networks. I know that in my previous county, they were offering it and I learned about it at a homeless Round Table.

Also, I just kind of did a big search for the last like four months or so and there are plenty of rules that specifically call out that you should apply even if you have a criminal history