The desire to help people is a major driver for a lot of people’s career choices. Social work is a path people usually take because they want to help in their own community and change people’s lives for the better. Of course, the type of people who are drawn to this kind of vocation are also often the kind of people drawn to volunteer work, i.e. those who would embrace the experience of traveling overseas to help others.
Travel and Study
The fact that you can now prepare for your social work career using online MSW programs offered by good colleges like Rutgers Online means you can study almost anywhere. This means it can be possible to do some overseas volunteer work while also working towards your degree. In fact, it can even end up being the best time to volunteer, as you’ll have more freedom in terms of time and location than after you start your social work career.
Of course, it isn’t always easy to balance your volunteer work and your studying, so some people struggle with this and fall behind on their online MSW programs. This doesn’t have to be the case, though, it is just a question of managing your time.
Don’t Over Commit
One of the biggest temptations that will prevent you from studying on a volunteering trip is committing to too much. You will want to make the most of your time there and help wherever you can. However, your studies are still important and will enable you to help people in the long-term, so find a balance where you always have time to fit in working on your course. You only have a certain amount of energy and time, so if you agree to everything that you could do as a volunteer, you’ll lose out as a student.
Be Flexible
While it is important to have a plan and try to stick to it when it comes to your studies, sometimes you’ll find there is an opportunity to do a once in a lifetime thing that you shouldn’t turn down. This is part of why people travel and volunteer, so you want to get the most out of your experience. It is also one of the benefits of doing your masters in social work online – you can be a bit more flexible about when you finish it. You can make the call when an opportunity comes up on your trip whether it is worth delaying your degree a little for. If you think it is, you have the ability to do that.
Studying while traveling is not the easiest thing in the world, so it pays to have a plan and also be flexible about things. However, it is something you can do and which will reward you with some great experiences, as well as allowing you to do some good in the world, even before you’ve started your career in social work.