Big careers come from small school

The building at 1127 Atwater Ave. looks like any other student house. An old front porch leads into a small living room, and creaky wooden stairs lead to the bedrooms and bathroom on the upper level. \nBut this isn't just any other students' house -- it's the school of social work. \n"When I go to parties and people ask 'What's your major,' I tell them social work, and they're always like, 'What? Sociology?'" said freshman Jana Gillespie.\nThe School of Social Work has been around for a long time -- more than 90 years -- but with a graduating class size of approximately 25 students a year, few people know about the program.\n"When I first came here 13 years ago, we weren't even on the official IU map," said Katharine Byers, director of the social work program and co-director of the Institute for Family and Social Responsibility. \n"We're small, we're a little bit off campus, and it's not a profession that's well-known by the public in general," she said.\nAs one of the 442 Bachelor of Social Work programs in the country, the program provides students with hands-on learning, including two supervised internships and the support and attention of a small school. \n"Students go through our classes in cohorts," Byers said, "so there's a real strong bond that forms among our students, and they end up being, obviously, very good friends with each other."\nAlthough many students are directed to the program through advisers, some students come into the program through personal encounters with social work. \n"A number of people have had some direct experience, either through their family or themselves, with social work," Byers said. \n"Other people come into college thinking, 'Well I want to help people in some way, I want to make a difference,' and they find their way to us," she said. \nWhatever the incentive of a student, the School of Social Work offers an introductory course on the major, Introduction to Social Work, which is open to anyone interested in the program. \nThe class focuses on exploring various types of jobs in social work and exposing the challenges, sacrifices and rewards involved in the profession. \n"I think it appeals to people who want to be passionate about what they do," said Professor Carlene Quinn. \nBut getting into the program can be difficult, as the school is very selective. \n"We turn away more people than we take in," Quinn said. \nMaggie McKittrick, a junior taking an introductory social work class, thinks that the entrance into the school is about more than a high grade point average.\n"It's really selective, and it's not based on grades alone," McKittrick said. "It's based on things like volunteering experience and class attendance, too." \nFor students interested in making a personal and social impact on the community, the hard work can be worth it. \n"A colleague of mine in Indianapolis once said that social work is a profession with an attitude," Byers said. "We have a very strong code of ethics that makes the promotion of social justice very much a part of who we are as professionals, and so we tend to be people who are committed to a variety of social justice issues."\n-- Contact staff writer Hannah Lodge at hjlodge@indiana.edu.