Life After Mac: Real stories of alumni finding their way — David
Following my graduation from McMaster University with a Bachelor in Social Work and Bachelor in Health and Aging, I was accepted into the Master of Social Work (MSW) program at Ryerson University. While in my MSW program, I completed an MSW major research paper (MRP) as well as a practicum. The focus of my MRP was the stories of previously incarcerated street-involved young Black men between the ages of 18–30 years of age and their experiences with hypermasculinity, education and prison. More specifically, I wanted to understand the life trajectory of these men, especially after being released from prison and their life trajectory’s correlation with mental distress and displaced anger/aggression. I was awarded the Deans Writing Award and the Faculty of Community Services Award for my paper as it was recognized as the best in my MSW cohort and one of the best in the faculty. These accolades and recognition also earned me the opportunity to be featured on Ryerson’s Yeates Graduate School website, a poster on the school and interviewed for Ryerson’s Eyeopener newspaper.
My practicum was at CAMH working in the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth ages 13–24 where I completed assessments and conducted therapy with Black youth struggling with concurrent disorders. I was able to use many of the therapy and assessment writing skills taught to me in my undergraduate social work degree at McMaster University combined with my racially and culturally competent knowledge which helped my clients tremendously. It was an amazing experience completing my internship there and I would recommend anyone who aspires to be a therapist or work with those struggling with addictions or mental illness to seek out a placement in the mental health sector such as CAMH, CMHA, and other hospitals or organizations with mental distress units.
Near my graduation from my MSW, I successfully attained a job with the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto (CAST) as a child protection worker on contract. After almost losing my job due to there being no active positions close to the end of my contract, I was successful in attaining a permanent position not too long after. After 2 years of working there, I now currently work as a Social Worker in child protection for the Yukon Government. I work very closely with many different First Nations communities. Also during this time, after being rejected from many journals (which I have heard is quite normal in the world of academia), I independently published an article with the Journal of Progressive Human Services on Black fatherhood and the complexities of it due to navigating racism, environmental violence, and gender-biased systems against fathers. I wanted to explain how these factors affected their physical and mental health and parenting capacity,
It has been quite a magnificent but challenging journey but I would not change anything about it. I say all of this to advise the audience to be prepare for roadblocks along the journey, but it will get better. For those who are religious/spiritual, especially those who believe in one deity some call God, Jah, or Allah like I do, have faith in God that he will see you through the difficult times and praise him when you succeed. We can only do so much relying on our own resilience. I would not have achieved this much had it not been for my faith in Jah and the support of my family and friends. Family and social support is imperative in going far. As the African Proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”.
David Grant
BSW and BA in Health and Aging ’16, MSW ‘17
