Rosa
BA (Hons) Social Work
Rosa has grown up seeing her mum love her career as a social worker. Continuing her family’s passion for helping others less fortunate, Rosa is now an undergraduate studying Social Work BA (Hons) at the University of Bradford.
From singer to student social worker, this is Rosa’s story.
Following in Mum's footsteps
“I’ve always seen my mum’s passion for the job.”
"I knew social work was hard, but seeing my mum’s passion for it made me realise I wanted a job that was as fulfilling.
"I was pretty academic at school, and knew I’d probably go to uni eventually, but I wanted to take a break from education after my A levels. I needed more life experience and to find out more about who I was, so I worked in retail and hospitality for a few years which shaped my passion for working with people, as well as performing as a singer.
"Lockdown then gave me a chance to breathe and consider my future prospects. If I was going to pursue a career in social work, it was now or never."
I looked at other universities but kept coming back to Bradford. I knew I could stay in this area and work for the local authority, and getting to know that whilst studying was really important to me.
Bradford was the choice for me
"I wanted to study Social Work at Bradford"
"I joined the course in 2021 having been out of education for five years. Adapting to the higher level of academic work after a break was actually ok, because the course is so well thought out and the lecturers are super supportive."
"The course is full-on, and quite emotional and personal for some people, but it’s done as carefully as it can be.
"You can’t tiptoe around things in social work; we will face traumatic and horrible things as social workers, and the teaching team at Bradford wanted to prepare us for that straight away.
"It felt overwhelming at first, knowing that we had to think of ourselves as social workers now, and look more carefully at how we conducted ourselves in person and on social media. We know we’re going to meet our future employers during our studies at Bradford, so we have to take it seriously."
Hit the ground running
“The first year is so important in understanding the foundations of social work.”
"You study the history of it and the wider social context of social work. I’ve learned from people who’ve accessed services throughout their lives or still do, and from different types of social work professionals, so I feel like I’ve had a taste of the different types of work I could go into within social work. I’ve learnt how it can go wrong, and how important it is to get it right.
"I feel like I’m a better social worker already. Now I’m in my second year and going into practice, I can solidify all that knowledge on placement."
Making a change
“I want to come away from each day knowing that I made a positive difference to someone else.”
"My mum has always been supportive of my career ambitions, and even though she’s outlined the pressures of the job to me and I’ve seen it for myself through her, she’s always said I’ll make a good social worker.
"She recognised early on that I’ve always been someone to look out for others. She gave me some advice once that I hold dear: she said “You might not change someone’s life, but you can make their day better."
"Being a social worker will help me make a positive difference to someone’s day."
Plenty of opportunities
“The course has completely opened my eyes to how many opportunities there are within social work.”
"Working with children and families was always my preferred path, but I’m really open-minded. I’m looking forward to my placements and working in areas I’ve not considered before, like working with adults with mental health issues, addiction or learning disabilities. I want to give everything a go and see what it’s all about."
