We Are Social Workers in NY City

Leslie Rosenberg and Sheena Marquis are social workers living in New York City.

1. When and how did you decide you wanted to be social workers?

Leslie: The short answer is that I was sitting on my best friend Molly’s bed sometime around early 2010, really lost and confused about what I wanted to do next in my career, and frustrated at how horrible my GRE practice scores were. She looked at me and said “How about social work? You’re really good with people, and those schools don’t require the GRE.” Because Molly’s advice had consistently led me toward some of the best decisions I had made throughout the previous decade, and since I hate standardized tests with all the rage a human being can muster, I was sold.

The longer answer is that it was a realization that came about as the result of being raised by two physicians who literally made it their business to serve others, and who spent much of what little free time they had left advocating on behalf of their patients at every level of government. At age 16, I read Jonathan Kozol’s Amazing Grace and quickly realized that the New York City that I had spent my life visiting to see family and friends was far greater than the glitz and glamour of Manhattan. I became simultaneously fascinated and appalled by the living conditions of the South Bronx at that time and decided that I wanted to go there, to meet the people and to fight to improve their lives. Always one to jump at the chance to drive around a dangerous neighborhood aimlessly, my father eagerly gave me a driving tour of the area, which included all the blocks and streets I had read about. I couldn’t believe I was seeing the same stores, hospitals, and public housing complexes where all these characters I had followed lived.

Probably my final push towards social work was when I decided to take our newly-elected President up on his challenge to young people to start volunteering once a week. Molly and I started tutoring with Horton’s Kids in Washington D.C., and I quickly realized that I was happier during those two hours a week than at any other time. The more research I did into the profession, the clearer it became that this was my calling, so in May of this year, I left Washington, D.C. after five years of working in politics, and packed up for my first “Smith summer” (our classes are all in the summers so we can have full-time work placements during the academic years). In late August, with a mere two semesters of clinical social work classes under my belt, I moved to New York and started working with FEGS. Other than the obviously terrible consequences this decision has on my personal finances, I haven’t looked back since!

Sheena: I’ve always wanted to work with kids, and that age range just increases as I get older (Now, I’m convinced that post-college is still part of childhood!). Up until I graduated college, I thought I would be a pediatrician. After deciding medical school was not for me, I taught science for a couple of years in several different capacities. I enjoyed teaching high school chemistry the most, but realized as I was in the classroom that I didn’t particularly care if my students learned the difference between the anode and cathode, or the formulas for all the polyatomic ions. I wanted to know about their lives — what was going on besides schoolwork. This

realization was a natural path to social work, which focuses on the whole person and the influences of their environment.

2. How did you get the jobs you have now? …

Choosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor from

via The Jobs Report: We Are Social Workers | The Jane Dough.