Wheelock College Blog Comment on Making Learning Visible and Storytelling by Hannah Linscott

I was very hesitant to take this class. I was not sure I would be learning anything that I could utilize as a future social worker. However, I am so glad I enrolled. I was surprised by how much this class has impacted me and influenced how I think about my future. We all have stories. We all have important stories. Stories that we have been a part of and they are signs of our lived experiences. Some may influence a friend or family member. Some may impact an entire community, group, or even nation. We live our lives and collect stories as we go. No two stories are the same. Everyone comes to each experience with their reality and perspective. One story told 100 times to 100 different people is 100 different stories. Each person that may hear that story will interpret and understand it differently. My job as a future social worker is to support this storytelling. I only know what it is like to be me. I do not know what my clients see, hear, and feel every day. If I am to advocate for my future clients, I need to be able to help facilitate their storytelling. This class has given me to the tools to understand the most basic functions of storytelling and understanding stories. I hope in my future career I can assist my clients in telling their own stories and sharing their experiences. I think this could be incredibly important in any sort of advocacy or macro work that I may be involved in. In the past, I have worked with clients who want to fight for legislation and services for their communities. One of the biggest keys in fighting for new legislation is sharing personal stories. The group I was working with struggled with finding a way to best communicate their struggles as homeless women in Boston and Cambridge. It seemed unfair and unjust to have to reduce a lifetime of struggle and gross injustice into a short page. Had I had the knowledge I have now, I feel I would have been able to better help this group. I feel confident that I could now share my understanding of the essential functions and critical features of a story that captures audiences to best help my clients tell their stories. Although I struggled with this group, I hope I can do more for my clients going forward. I hope I can offer some of the tools they may need to help them share their stories and make the change they want to see in their lives.