{"id":241140,"date":"2026-02-17T10:20:58","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:20:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=241140"},"modified":"2026-02-17T10:20:58","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T15:20:58","slug":"school-of-social-work-alumni-share-career-pathways-with-bsw-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2026\/02\/school-of-social-work-alumni-share-career-pathways-with-bsw-students\/","title":{"rendered":"School of Social Work Alumni Share Career Pathways with BSW Students"},"content":{"rendered":"

Social work, says UConn alumna Ilene Garcia, is a lot like a game of telephone.<\/p>\n

Somewhere along the way\u2014between systems, agencies, schools, courts, and community providers\u2014the original message can get lost. Resources don\u2019t reach families. Needs go unmet. Communication breaks down.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then there\u2019s a loss of connection,\u201d Garcia says. \u201cSo we have to be the ones who say, \u2018Let me go back and see what\u2019s missing here so that my client gets whatever they need to be successful.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia \u201924, MSW \u201925, a bilingual Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) and former UConn School of Social Work Connecticut \u00a1Adelante! Scholar, now serves as a full-time social worker trainee with the Connecticut Department of Children and Families (DCF). There, she manages multiple active cases each week, connecting families with preventive resources and supports.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuccess is not only being financially stable or providing things for your family,\u201d she says. \u201cIt\u2019s well-being \u2014 physically, mentally, within the family. As a social worker, I connect parents with the resources they need so the family can be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia was one of four speakers who participated in a \u201cCareers for Change: Pathways through Social Work\u201d panel Feb. 10 in the Travelers Collaborative Lounge on the UConn Hartford campus. Presented by the UConn Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills, the panel offered perspectives and advice to students enrolled in SOWK 2000: Social Justice for the Social Work Profession. Wiley Dawson, assistant director of the Center for Career Readiness, moderated the panel and welcomed questions from BSW students.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important for our undergraduates to learn from social workers who are working directly in the field and to understand the various pathways you can pursue with a degree in social work,\u201d says course instructor Milagros Marrero-Johnson, adjunct instructor and senior director of strategic initiatives and community engagement at the School of Social Work. \u201cThrough the panel, our speakers were able to offer students insight into what the experience of being a social worker truly entails.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each panelist highlighted a different professional path.<\/p>\n

\"Gus
Panelist Gus Marks-Hamilton \u201903, \u201917 MSW, LSMW, center, developed legislation to end mass incarceration in Connecticut and bring humane policy reforms to the criminal legal system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gus Marks-Hamilton \u201903, \u201917 MSW, LMSW, an adjunct instructor at the School of Social Work, spoke about his role as a campaign manager at the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Connecticut (ACLU-CT). Based in Hartford, he leads advocacy efforts focused on ending the harms of mass incarceration, eliminating racial disparities in the state\u2019s criminal legal system, expanding equitable access to voting rights, and protecting civil rights.<\/p>\n

At the state Capitol, Marks-Hamilton works closely with individuals directly impacted by incarceration, many of whom testify before lawmakers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are people who feel dehumanized and are living with a lot of trauma,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the Capitol, I make sure that during the four or five hours they spend with me, they feel safe and valued.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tynisha Tyson \u201905 MSW, also an adjunct instructor, shared her experience as a school social worker with Hartford Public Schools. There, she provides individual and group counseling to students in grades 6\u20138 who may be experiencing abuse, neglect, food insecurity, poverty, or have an incarcerated parent.<\/p>\n

As a school social worker, \u201cyou can expect any and everything\u201d to happen on a daily basis, she says. \u201cOur job is to help individuals find a way to deal with what society brought them. We enhance the lives of children and families and look at ways we can improve their lives by empowering them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to working in schools, Tyson provided direct therapeutic services\u2014including counseling, group therapy, and family therapy\u2014to children ages 6\u201318 and families navigating mental health and substance use challenges.<\/p>\n

\"Tynisha
Tynisha Tyson \u201905 MSW is a school social worker at Milner Middle School in Hartford. She also teaches DSEL 5320: Direct Practice in School as a UConn School of Social Work adjunct instructor.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Panelist Michelle Rivera, BSW, works as a program assistant for the School of Social Work\u2019s strategic initiatives and community engagement office, where she helps connect students with scholarships and workforce opportunities aligned with their academic programs and practicum placements.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn your social work classes, you\u2019re going to have a lot of self-reflection and understand where you are in the world,\u201d Rivera says. \u201cBeing culturally aware is very important in this field.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rivera, who is also a graduate student at the UConn School of Business, stressed the importance of advocacy.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not the expert of someone\u2019s life,\u201d she says. \u201cYou need to hear from them and, sometimes, hold their hands as you help them navigate. It\u2019s also important to challenge the systems that keep them feeling oppressed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panelists also spoke about maintaining composure in emotionally difficult situations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere have been moments where I\u2019m sitting with a client and she\u2019s crying,\u201d Garcia says. \u201cAnd I feel it. I really feel what they\u2019re going through.\u201d<\/p>\n

In those moments, she shifts into problem-solving mode.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how people talk about fight or flight?\u201d she says. \u201cI have to be the one who fights \u2014 who says, \u2018OK, let\u2019s come up with a plan.\u2019 Even if we can\u2019t control everything, we can at least create direction. Emotionally, it can be very straining. But I always remind myself: there has to be an end goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garcia credits part of that mindset to her own lived experience as the eldest child and a first-generation college student.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I pull from that part of myself\u2014stepping into action when something needs to get done.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tyson says self-care is essential for social workers.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to be intentional,\u201d she says. \u201cYou have to set time aside for yourself to do the things that you love, the things that are rewarding to you, the things that are going to give you joy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a moderated panel, UConn alumni and staff offered firsthand insights into their day-to-day work as social workers<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":201,"featured_media":241141,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1870],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2514],"class_list":["post-241140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ssw"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-02 22:16:39","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241140","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/201"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241140"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241140\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":241161,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241140\/revisions\/241161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/241141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241140"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241140"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241140"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=241140"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=241140"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}