One undergraduate course changed the trajectory of Fordham GSS Field Specialist Natalie Alvarez’s life.
“I grew up wanting to do music,” she said. “I [went]to Skidmore College because it had a great music program. But I discovered social work through a core requirement course, Values and Populations at Risk, and it just clicked.”
Alvarez’s lived experiences and personal values drew her to the course’s materials. At that point in her life, she didn’t know social work was a career. But after hearing about the profession’s person-centered approach, she found herself more and more intrigued.
“To encounter for the first time a discipline based in a worldview of putting the person in their environment, and really looking at all the holistic elements of what it means to exist in society, it was powerful,” she said.
The discovery excited her. She didn’t know a career could look like this.
“I realized there’s a whole discipline based on what we can do to ensure equity for others,” she said.
That moment set her on a path of working in schools, youth programs, and advocacy. Now, she is bringing that same passion to Fordham’s Graduate School of Social Service as a member of the field education department. And for our MSW students, that’s good news.
Learning by Doing, with Support from Social Workers Who’ve Been There
At Fordham, field education is the bedrock of the MSW experience, where classroom theory meets real-world practice. Alvarez knows how essential a strong support system is in a placement setting because she’s lived it. As an undergraduate at Skidmore and as an M.S.W. student at Columbia University, Alvarez had mentors who guided her along the way.
One particular experience with a field advisor at Skidmore stands out. As an undergraduate, Alvarez was set on clinical social work. So, when she received a field placement at the Albany State Legislature, she wasn’t thrilled. But her advisor, who had been working with her and learning about her goals, saw the opportunity for a young social worker to grow and expand her skillset.
“He said to me, ‘You’ve never experienced advocacy-level work before, so I don’t know that you won’t like it. I’m asking you to give this a chance,’” Alvarez said. “I don’t think I’ve learned more from any other field placement than I did from working in the Albany State Legislature.”
The placement opened her eyes to a broader view of the profession. She learned social work is more than individual clinical work.
“I got to see all the little people behind the scenes who make social change happen. I learned a lot about strategy,” she said. “I don’t think I could have succeeded as a school social worker without that experience.”
Alvarez’s field placement as an advanced standing M.S.W. student at Columbia was within a school, preparing her for what would be an eight-year tenure as a school social worker after graduation. Her advice for students who have their sights set on school social work: be adaptable.
“It’s going to be different every single day,” she said. “Your job is to remove the things that make it so that students can’t exercise their own skill sets in grit and resilience.”
A Field Team That’s Got Your Back
Now based at Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus, Alvarez is looking forward to helping the next generation of social workers navigate their field journeys. She sees the school’s field education team as a key part of what makes the MSW experience here so meaningful.
“I’m really happy to be part of an institution that’s trying to structure things in a way that best serves students,” she said. “It’s a privilege to be in a role where I can support students on their path, especially knowing how impactful that support was for me.”
As an M.S.W. graduate herself — like many others on the Fordham GSS field team — Alvarez plans to use her skills and experience as a social worker to give current students the best experience possible.
“My hope is that my work here at Fordham can help me as a social worker, too—to grow in ways that let me support other social workers,” she said. “I use all of my social work skills in this role. I really enjoy the challenge of finding what a student is interested in and finding the best possible fit.”
