Education and Career
I have always been interested in helping people help themselves, and I chose to develop this interest through education and internships/practica. I attended the University of Wisconsin, where I graduated Summa Cum Laude in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development and Psychology.
I graduated with my Master of Social Work degree from Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri in 1999. My main emphases have been (1) sexual minority youths; (2) HIV/AIDS services (education, prevention, treatment); (3) abuse; and (4) poverty.
I began attending The University of Chicago in Autumn 1999, where I intended to pursue a Ph.D. in Human Development and focus on gay/lesbian health and mental health issues. Unfortunately, I have experienced a great deal of hostility from one of the deans at UC; I strongly believe this hostility is linked to my sexual orientation. Because of this, I have decided to look at other schools/programs.
Sexual minority youths are coming out at younger and younger ages and in larger numbers than ever before. These young people are often aware that they are "different" from their peers before puberty, even though they often do not label themselves gay/lesbian/bisexual or engage in same-sex sexual behaviour until adolescence (sometimes later).
When sexual minority youths reveal their homosexual/bisexual orientation to their families and/or peers they are often stigmatized and mistreated, at least initially, and sometimes experience emotional, physical, and sexual abuse. In addition, sexual minority youths have unique needs that are often not met by their families, peers, schools, health/mental health providers, and/or communities.
I have recently been pleasantly surprised by some young gay men and lesbians and their peers. One young man that I met was very popular with his classmates in high school and was elected to his student governing association. He is currently attending Stanford University. I also talked with a young lesbian couple who went to their high school prom together with no hassles. Their peers seem to be very supportive and open-minded about things. It's nice to see...
I was initially very frightened about HIV/AIDS and remember hearing about AIDS when it first became an issue. Gay men were sick and dying. Conservative religious and political leaders were condemning the sick and dying as "immoral," "indecent," "sinful," "promiscuous," "damned." My classmates were making AIDS jokes and talking about queers.
It wasn't until I was a junior in college that I was brave enough to have a practicum at an AIDS service/resource organization. While there, I had the privilege and opportunity to provide case management services and lead support groups for people with HIV and provide pre-test counseling and education services for people wanting to know their HIV status.
I have seen people live and die with HIV. I look forward to the day when HIV/AIDS-related services and jobs are no longer needed.
Abuse is a difficult topic to talk about, much less work with. One of the things that concerns me most regarding abuse is the fact that people who abuse others were often abused themselves. This means that children who are abused are more likely than their peers to abuse others when they grow up. Another thing that is a cause of concern is the fact that perpetrators of abuse, including sexual abuse, are often adults the children know and trust (i.e., parents, uncles, close friends, etc.). Thus, things like Megan's Law, which lets everyone in an area know the identity of a child sexual abuser, sometimes only serve to stigmatize an offender and increase his/her chances of getting back into the system.
I am very concerned about poverty in the United States. After working with many people in many settings, I believe that social problems such as crime, abuse, delinquency, drug use/abuse, gang activity, and violence are often "symptoms" of a larger problem in our society: poverty.
Although I do not think welfare works very well as it is currently structured, I do think that fixing broken programs makes more sense than simply throwing programs away. In addition, people who have full-time employment after being on welfare often cannot afford child care or health insurance. Lack of these essentials can often result in the following problems:
In addition, people who work very hard in full-time positions sometimes fail to attain a sustaining level of income for themselves and their families. The basic things these people often want and need are (1) education and skills, (2) employment, (3) health care, and (4) child care.