Simon Kayser
Major: Social Work
Campus Activities: Worden Social Work Organization Secretary, National Society of Leadership and Success, OLLU Volunteer and Internship Fair participant. 

Impact of OLLU: My OLLU education has been a transformative experience. Before starting at the school, I’d been on a journey to becoming the best version of myself for two decades, battling self-defeating and alienating thoughts and habits. My metamorphosis, which began in earnest after a somewhat rocky start in life, accelerated exponentially with each semester of my social work schooling. Sitting here, days away from walking the stage with my BSW, I marvel at how far I’ve come, and I cannot help but be excited about how much more I will grow as I pursue my MSW.

An important life lesson learned: It’s hard to choose just one life lesson I’ve picked up at OLLU, but at the top of the list would have to be that I learned I should be much kinder to myself. I have struggled with negative self-talk for as long as I can remember, but part of the curriculum involved looking inward and honestly assessing one’s positive traits in addition to any faults. It’s a deep dive designed to turn the student into the most effective social worker they can be by increasing their awareness of any attributes that could help or hinder them in their future career. This process resulted in something akin to a psychic phase change. However, it’s not that I’m now looking at myself with rose-colored glasses. Rather, the polarized lenses I wore that had me primarily focusing on my flaws have been removed.

Plans for the future: I have been accepted into the Master of Social Work program at Our Lady of the Lake University. I hope to use my degree and experiences from OLLU to help others, which is the sole reason I chose to study social work. The National Association of Social Work Code of Ethics preamble reads that “the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.” This statement sums up my goals for the future.