1. Perspectives from the Field Social Work Internships
BYU-Hawaii Student Testimonials

2. AUSTRALIA

3. Brisbane - Glenala State High School
Vika Naulu
“I loved it! It was not a paid internship, but the experience I gained from it was priceless. My hours were from Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm, however there were many days where I worked up to 6 or 7pm. I interned at a High School located in a low socioeconomic area in Brisbane, Australia. 70% of the school was represented by Pacific Islanders, the rest were made up of Anglo Australians, Indigenous Australians, Africans and Asians. I got a variety of experience from behavior management, case management, group work, and Individual counseling, mostly learned from Mental Health, Individuals, Human Behavior and Groups class at BYUH … I landed a job with an NGO that allowed me to continue to work at the school I interned at but I also picked up another school as well working as a Youth Support Coordinator 38 hours a week. Any stress that came with the internship was good stress, it was stress that came with trying to support young people and their families especially when their families looked at you as their only hope to improve their situations. So I’m currently completing my 3rd year in the social work field but have applications to hopefully start my Master’s program next year here in Australia.”

5. HAWAII

6. BYUH Campus – Counseling Center
Brooke Butler
“In my internship I work with children a lot. I co- facilitate two separate groups that deal with children and parents. By doing this I realized that I would like to go into the field working with children … Before my internship I did not know which population I wanted to work with, and now I am certain that I’d like to work with children.”

8. BYUH Campus – Counseling Center
Nepote Hingano
“There were life lessons that I learned at counseling services that I don’t think I could’ve learned elsewhere that I will never forget. One thing is that we are all God’s children and that He is mindful of our challenges, big or small. I really enjoyed it! At first I would not say all of the classes helped, but as I got more into my internship I surely did appreciate the knowledge that I learned from my SW classes at BYUH. It helped me learn how to better provide students with the services they needed. I was offered a job as a graduate intern under my field director.”

9. Tongan:
“Na'e i ai ha u akonaki fakametelie na'e lava keu ako i he counseling services he ikai ke lava ke ma'u ha feitu'u kehe, pea he ikai toe ngalo ia au. Koe me'a e taha na'e lava keu ako, koe fanau tau tolu oe Otua pea oku ne tokanga mai kihe e tau ngaahi faingata ia, lalahi pe si'i si'i. Na'a ku Fiefia aupito!!He kamata, na'a ku pe he na'e ikai ke aonga ae u kalasi, ka i he lolotonga e ku internship na'u fakamalo'ia he ngaahi 'ilo na'a ku ma'u mei he u kalasi SW i BYUH. Na'e tokoni mai keu lava o tokoni ki he tamiki ako.Na'a ku ma'u ha faingamalie keu ngaue, o hoko ko ha graduate intern ma 'eku talekita.”

11. Kahuku Hospital – Kahuku Medical Center
Katie Naea
“I would recommend my peers to Kahuku Medical Center in preparation for the internship. My internship experience has helped me recognize what I want to focus on in the aspect of being a Social Worker. It made me prepare what certain areas, like being in healthcare, is expected from me as a Social Worker. This internship shed light of what I will be dealing with in the future in working as a discharge planner.”

13. Honolulu – Made in Hope (Refugees)
Tyler Gifford:
“I learned a lot in my internship. My internship was stressful enough and I always had enough to do. The classes at BYUH were helpful. My classes did not only focus on theory, but how to use theory in social work practice. Right now I am a medical social worker at Queen’s Medical Center.”

14. Tagalog:
“Responsible namin na mahanap ang internship. Iba’t iba ang horas ng internship ko. Pero sa bawa’t araw nasa internship ako ng mga 10 hours. Marami akong natutunan sa internship ko. Iyon internship ko ay stressful enough na palagi akong magawa pero hindi ako nainip o hindi ako nawala ng pagasa dahil naging sobra ang stress. Makatulong talaga ang mga klase ko sa BYUH. Iyon mga klase ko kase, hindi lanang tungkol sa theory pero papaano magamit ang theory nyan sa social work practice. Sa ngayon, medical social worker ako sa Queens Medical Center. Napakahalaga ang masters degree sa social work. Kung wala kang masters mahirapan ka na mahanap ng trabajo dahil sa social work license. Madalas kailangan ng LSW Licensure sa karamihan ng social work jobs.“

16. Honolulu - Queen Lili’oukalani Children’s Center
Jordan Furtado
The internship experience has opened a door of opportunities for me. I was offered a Community Building Facilitator position after I graduate in April. It is a macro social work position that only requires a 4 year degree. I was told that if I accept the position I would be encouraged to obtain an MSW and receive an LSW, which will give me a pay raise and change my status to Social Worker III. I believe that a lot of factors got me the job offer, but the main thing is that I found a place where my culture and heritage is the main source for therapeutic techniques. I would recommend my peers to seek out many different types of agencies in preparation for the internship.”

18. MARSHALL ISLANDS

19. Majuro – Delap Elementary School
Raureti Kareketaake Raymond:
“My internship was not a paid intern. I was working forty hours a week from Monday to Friday. The internship was beneficial to me because it prepared me for a real job. My Groups class with Dr. Mcdonnell, I have learned about confidentiality which I was able to apply when I was assigned to work with a referral from a different school. I am thankful for the support from Dr. Galea’i because I was able to receive instructions from him while my field instructor was recuperating from a car accident. My experience was not easy, but very rewarding because it helped me get out of my comfort zone and do things. In my NGO, Non-Governmental Organizations, course I had learned to write grant proposals and fundraising was kind of relating to the field I was working at. For example, when I was continuing on with the school handbook of Delap Elementary School in Majuro there were no budget for funding. My grant writing was not well, but I learned something from that experience. My internship was not easy, but I learned to work and come up with things I needed to do. I do appreciate my internship. I received a job off directly after my internship. I started as a classroom teacher for a quarter and then they put me to be a school counselor for the Middle School on Ebeye, Kwajalein.”

20. Marshallese
”Au makuri ni kataneiai bon akea boou iai. i Makuri ni karaoa au kataneiai n ana Botaki n Reirei ke te Ministry of Education iaon Matiare i Majuro. I makuri ibukin 40 te aoa man te Moanibong ni karoa te Kanimabong. Au makuri ni kataneiai e rangi n tikiraoi ba e buokia kaaro ao ataein te reirei ni katauaraoa aia School Handbook. e rangi ni buokai naba ni katauraoi imwain reken au makuri raoi. I kukurei ni kaotia ae te class i BYUH e rangi ni buokai n aron CONFIDENTIALITY ke rongorongo ake ikarei man au makuri ao iaki kona n tuanga temanna. I rangi ni karaba te Social Work Department ba e rangi ni korakora ana ibuobuoki nakon au makuri ni kataneiai ea moara riki bon au tia reirei ae Dr. Keneth Galeai n aron te online conference ao ai bon te reitaki n te byuh mail. Teuana mai ibuakon au assignment are ikaraoia ba nna counseling ma temanna te student ao anne are i taku ba e rangi n reitaki raoi ma au assignment. imwin au makuri ni kataneiai i Majuro ao ia anganaki naba au makuri ba te High School teacher ibukin 1 te quater ao n te tai aei ao ia riki ngai ba te school counselor n te Public Middle School Ebeye Kwajelein. E tuai n reke au Masters ma irangi ni kataua au makuri ni kataneiai e ngae ngke e rangi n aki bebete ma e rangi ni katauraoi nakon reken raoi au makuri.”

22. New Zealand

23. LDS Family Services Sapati Savea’ali’I
“Before my internship I was not too sure about the specific field I wanted to start with. During my internship, I was able to shadow different social workers in different fields that gives me an idea of a specific field to start my career and clearly see my preparation for my future path. My internship experience was amazing. It will help you put everything you have learned into action. It is an opportunity for you to test and try and see what you are capable of, your strengths and your weaknesses.”

24. Samoan
“Oute fautuaina outou, e faamaumau lelei ni tusitusiga aua le sauniuni atu mo le galuega faavaitaimi. E taua tele le mautinoa o sau mataupu maoti ete galue nai ai ma ia e malamalama ile mafuaga oloo e fia galue ai I lena mataupu.”

26. TAIWAN

27. Syin-Lu Social Welfare Foundation
Stella Chen
“If you are Taiwanese students, and want to come back to Taiwan to do your internship, I would recommend you to practice your Chinese writing skills, and assessment skills in preparation for the internship in Taiwan … I did have basic skills when I met with my clients, however, I think that as a good social worker, I need to prepare more skills during my meetings with my clients so that I can find out their problems more easily to solve their problems immediately.”

28. Mandarin
“如果你是台灣留美學生並且計畫在畢業後返回台灣做 實習，我會非常推薦和建議你開始練習中文的寫作技 巧及評估技巧。當我在實習的時候我深深學到一位好 的社工師必須做好事前準備和擁有精確的評估技巧， 這些特質能幫助你更了解委託人的需求和問題來源進 而之夠有效率的解決問題.”

30. BOYO Welfare Foundation
Meien Huang
“The internship experience has influenced me in navigating to which area of practice and the group of people I want to work with. I realized that that I am not good at working with children .. The system is not perfect. The agencies are not perfect either. I would love to be a self-employed counselor to guide people in making these important decisions. I would love to go to graduate school to study counseling, psychology, or family therapy if I have the opportunity.”

31. Mandarin
這次在博幼基金會的實習基金會讓我更確定在社工領 域想要服務的對象。我發現我並不是很會和兒童工作， 而且社工體系在台灣並不是很健全，大概也很難找到 一個完全符合我的理想的基金會；因此，我希望能夠 成為一個獨立的諮商師，幫助別人做重要的決定。如 果有機會的話，我希望能夠去攻讀碩士學位，研讀諮 商心理學或家庭諮商。

33. TONGA

34. Nukualofa – Youth Outreach Program
Pauline Kaufusi
“It was so much fun and such great learning working with youth and such passionate workers who volunteer their time to keep these youth out of trouble is amazing I'm just glad I got to be apart of it. It was a neat cultural experience we learned to apply what we learnt in classes, we did a vast variety of tasks. We wrote for grants, compiled resources into a database for the youth. It was very flexible, it wasn’t 9-5 at all we had a lot of community events that went on till late and also on Saturday’s so it was different hours everyday, but I really enjoyed it. A lot of the social work in Tonga is voluntary. My internship was a preventative program so it wasn't directly dealing with social issues. I worked at on the spot which is an art initiative empowering youth through art and culture.”