Alea Tveit is in her third and final year of the Online Extended Study MSSW program and will be graduating in May of 2022. She is in the Organizational Leadership concentration.
What would you like to do after you finish your degree?
I am passionate about anti-oppression work, community organizing, and community-led movement building. I know my life’s work is to be forever learning and in solidarity with movement work whether my role is in community engagement, facilitation, or data and research. I want to continue to be in a support role after I graduate and hope that I will be working in an organization that specifically focuses on Environmental Justice.
Did you always know you wanted to go into social work?
I did not always know, this was a very recent discovery! I always knew I wanted to go into some form of sociology or social justice work, and when I began looking for graduate programs, those were the degrees I was looking into, but I wasn’t finding many options where the degree focused on community movements and social justice. I happened to be in discussion with one of my family’s friends about applications and she mentioned to me that she went to school for Macro Social Work and that was widely considered the ‘social justice degree’. I had no idea that it was even a field or type of social work, I thought social work was only direct service or counseling! But she was doing work I admired related to public education advocacy so I researched more about the field and thought it was a good fit.
Are you part of any student organizations?
I am a part of Phi Alpha, the Truth, Liberation, and Justice Collaborative, and I serve as the Student Representative on the College of Social Work Alumni Affairs Committee.
Where is your field placement and what is your favorite part?
I am doing an Employment-Based field placement at a local PBS station, WTCI. I do Education Services and Community Engagement, and it has been an incredible experience connecting with our amazing community and holding space for community-led storytelling programs and initiatives. I would say being able to support community voice work and facilitating programs that are participatory, collaborative, and integrating community voice in a new way at this PBS station are my favorite parts. The fact that I am participating in programming that facilitates community decision-making, especially projects that include identifying the educational priorities of our community and having the community create content around those areas, is really such an honor. I am unbelievably grateful to get to work alongside our talented, wonderful community.
If someone was thinking about majoring in Social Work at UT, what advice would you give them?
I was initially nervous about being in the online program because I was worried I wouldn’t connect with my classmates or professors for the typical college experience but I was so wrong! I have made wonderful friends with my peers and am in constant awe of the support of the professors and my field advisor. It all feels like such a personal experience! I am deeply grateful for the program looking inward as well, finding ways to support student voice, taking accountability, and adjusting programs to be in alignment with anti-oppression. I think if someone is interested in majoring, I would tell them that the connections they will make and the commitment to growth the program is undergoing is very worth it and encouraging in moving the field forward! My advice would be to go that extra mile to email peers or professors to start forming relationships! I have a text group of about 5 people who are all in my concentration and we live in different places but we’ve been through so much together over this past three years. We support each other with reminders for self-care, studying together, and offer each other encouragement and I cannot wait to meet them in person when we graduate!