WHAT HAVE I LEARNED THROUGHOUT THE DIPLOMA PROGRAM?

MY TRUTH

Well I'm glad you asked.....

Truthfully 

Well, the truth is... I don’t remember half of what the instructors said in those rooms during the past three years. But, I do remember everything the 1 teacher in this journey has taught me.

And here it is, shared with all of you within the pages of this website..

As someone with lived experience—someone who has navigated the system their whole life—I know that more than half of the information in those textbooks are just words. They are words in textbooks, that they want us to see, think, and obey.

BORING!!!

Just like everyone else, we walked into those shiny institutional halls thinking we were going to learn how to change the world. But let’s be real — the college system we went through....

Clone factory. Assembly line. A social work sausage machine designed to mold us into perfectly obedient, rule-following practitioners. "Be professional". "Stay neutral". "Don’t ruffle feathers-" 

Basically: Be a good little sheep and follow the herd.

BORING!!!

And that, my friends, is exactly why the system stays broken — and why social workers burn out in multitudes.

But some of us, the loudmouth Social Workers with too much fire and too little tolerance for BS.  

Yes, we will still face burnout at some point in our careers, I'm sure of it — but at least we’ll go out swinging.

And we’ll know we gave every damn ounce of energy we had to show up for our people the way they actually needed.

I’ve learned that what we are told in these classrooms by instructors and textbooks, and the reality of our jobs as social workers are two very different beasts.

Here’s the honest breakdown:

The way I see it is, the theories and lessons we've been taught over the past three years are just words—words written in expensive textbooks and delivered by instructors who were instructed to do just that. Many of these instructors have no lived experience and they learned what they know from other instructors and textbooks. They show up, deliver the script, assign grades, and collect a paycheck. 

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🐑 Instructors vs. Teachers:

Know the Difference

During my time in the social work program, I had many instructors — but teachers, I only had one.

There’s a big difference between an instructor and a teacher. Instructors (aka sheep) show up, read from their "scripts," hand out assignments, collect them, grade them, and clock out. They say what they’ve been told to say. They do what they’ve been told to do. It’s robotic. It’s rehearsed. It’s lifeless.

But teachers, Teachers throw the textbook on the floor on day one and kick it across the classroom.Teachers speak from their lived experience, from their heart, from their truth.

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🧠 Teaching with Vulnerability & Mental Health

Teachers disclose their mental health — which creates unity.When a teacher tells the class they have ADHD — and we see it, hear it, feel it — it does two powerful things:

  1. Normalizes mental health in the classroom and workplace.
  2. Makes those of us with mental health conditions feel safe, comfortable, and understood.

Now that’s how you build a safe learning space.
That’s not just appreciated — that’s respected.

Respect shouldn't be expected without just reason. Where I come from, Respect is earned.

 

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🎓 Titles Don’t Mean Respect

Teachers don’t expect to be called “Dr.” just because of a PhD. or  expect special treatment just because of the BSW OR MSW in front of their names. They don’t demand respect because of , letters, or titles.

Teachers, they hang their fancy credential plaques upside down, and if they aren't required to hang them, then they don't!! Which shows, that we are the same. No one is better than anyone because of status, letters or positions. It sends the message"I’m here to teach, you to serve you, and learn from you.” We are equal.

That’s real humility. That’s real leadership.
That’s how respect is earned.

Equals. 

 

Respect, Respect Dawg

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🪶 Land Acknowledgement or Lip Service

BVC is on Treaty land.

Instructors read land acknowledgements like it’s a script. No real action. No meaning. No reflection. Lame.

But a teacher.

  • They point out the flaws in the scripted acknowledgement.
  • They highlight the injustice.
  • They use the land itself to teach the culture that was stolen and erased.

That’s not just a gesture —
That’s Truth and Reconciliation in real-time.

And when they teach the history of First Nations people, they do it with truth, compassion, and class.

Respect, Dawg.

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🧵 A Tie-Dyed Sheep Among White Fluff

I didn’t come to social work school to blend in — and I sure as hell didn’t come to stay quiet.

While the room focused on rubrics and readings, I was focused on reality. On what wasn’t being said. On the gaps between the theory and the truth.

Because let’s be honest — most of what we were taught wasn’t meant to challenge anything. It was meant to keep us safe. Comfortable. Compliant.

But I didn’t sit in those seats just to nod along. I brought fire, voice, and lived experience into every space I entered. Not to play teacher — but to shake the room.

I wasn’t the student who absorbed the script. I was the one who interrupted it.

#NoRegrets#FukTheSystem#ExposeTheTruth #AlwaysSpeakYourTruth#SorryNotSorry

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One Teacher. One Legacy.

St. John Bosco once said:

“To teach is to touch lives forever, for the lessons imparted by a teacher echo through eternity.”

So, with that — I leave this message:

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✨ To the ONLY Teacher I Had the Honor to Learn From:

Thank you.

Thank you for:

  • Creating a safe, respectful, and understanding space for us.
  • Considering our experiences, thoughts, and feelings while teaching heavy topics — especially the truth and history of my ancestors, the First People of these Nations.
  • Helping unbury a culture that has been — and continues to be — erased.

Kahkiyaw (thank you in Cree) for being a living example of Truth and Reconciliation.

Thank you for being brave enough to trust us with your mental health diagnosis.
That act alone broke stigma and normalized disclosure in academic spaces.
It gave many of us a sense of safety and validation.

Thank you for being “on track and making a difference for the students [you] serve,” and for showing that your only desire was to be helpful.

You were more than helpful —
You taught me how to serve others with humility, courage, and truth.

Like the Seven Sacred Teachings of my people, I will carry your teachings
in my heart,
in my soul,
and in my mind.

Thank you for being a tie-dyed sheep in a world full of same-old, systemic fluff.

What Have I Learned Throughout the Social Work Diploma Program? (Summary)

 

I’ve learned that social work is not just forms, policies, and meetings. It’s fire. It’s fight. It’s showing up when the system doesn’t.

I’ve learned how trauma sits in the bones.
How oppression hides behind professionalism.
And how theory means nothing if it doesn’t walk hand in hand with lived experience.

I’ve Learned:

  • Anti-oppressive practice isn’t a checkbox—it’s a daily decision to challenge injustice, even when it’s uncomfortable.

  • Harm reduction is love. Period. It’s meeting people exactly where they are—not where society says they should be.

  • Advocacy means pushing back, even when you’re the only one standing.

  • Trauma-informed care means understanding behavior through the lens of survival, not judgment.

  • Colonialism is alive and well—and unless social workers are decolonizing their own practice, they are part of the harm.

And I’ve learned this:

The system loves to talk about lived experience—

but rarely makes room for it.

Still, I will keep speaking MY truth and the truth of others.

Because I’ve learned:

My voice is valid.

My perspective is power.

My story is social work.