Calling All Social Work Newbies: A Conversation with Regine Amos, MSW

Timestamps

0:00 – Intro

1:00  — What is a Fellowship?

2:58 — Navigating an education and career pivot from Journalism to Social Work

5:35 — Why Regine works with clients ages 18-24

6:24 — Online MSW program experience pros and cons

8:25 — What Regine learned in her field placement working with young adults experiencing homelessness

9:28 — Advocating for yourself as a “baby social worker” new to the field

16:11 — You’re never limited by a social work degree, you can pivot at any time

18:36 — How to incorporate community and relational theory into real life work with clients

21:33 — What does a day to day look like in a fellowship?

23:54 — How Regine gets her clients

25:57 — What does a fellowship session look like with a client?

26:48 — Advice for those who want to pursue a fellowship like Regine

29:06 — Infusing confidence in your cover letters and applications

Interview Transcript 

Anna Shull  0:00 

Hello and welcome back to The Voices of Social Work podcast. I am Anna, a licensed social worker interviewing social workers. And I’m so excited for you to listen to this interview today. In this episode, I am joined by Regine also known as Letsunpackdat on Instagram. Regine is an MSW graduate who is now pursuing a fellowship in individual therapy, individual counseling, working at a university with college students. She also shares some insights about being a baby social worker and new to the field. But this is a really good one. So I’m so glad you’re here. Hi, Regine. Welcome to The Voices of Social Work podcast. Would you just introduce yourself, kind of who you are and what you’re up to at the moment?

Regine Amos  0:36 

My name is Regine. I recently graduated with my MSW in March, and I’m currently a fellow at a college counseling center.

Anna Shull  0:46 

That’s awesome. So I feel like we don’t hear too often about people doing fellowships after their MSW like it’s not everyone’s typical journey. So could you talk a little bit about what that is, and also kind of how you decided that that’s what you wanted to do.

Regine Amos  1:00 

So a fellowship, at least in the sense of what I do, basically, after getting your degree, you go into kind of more learning, but you get paid for it. So that’s kind of cool. We have supervisors who support us with seeing clients at the counseling center at the university. We also have like seminars where we learn different theories or different clinical issues. That’s what I set out to do. Like when I first applied and said, I wanted to go get my degree in social work, I was looking at like, what am I going to do with this? How do I get these hours? How many? 3000. That’s wild. So I looked into what to do. And the fellowship really resonated with me. I wanted to work with young adults. 18 to 24 is what I did with my internship, and relatively the age range I work with now. So it kind of was just like a perfect fit. So I was applying to multiple ones. I sent out applications to different cities, and ultimately picked the city that I’m in. So mostly because I wanted to work with people of color. And some of the other cities that accepted me, their population for like people of color was really, really low. And I was like, I don’t know and I also don’t know if I want to do a whole new city right now. So yeah, that’s how we landed on that. It’s been really, really amazing.

Anna Shull  2:27 

That’s cool. Because it is such a big gap. I feel like between classes in grad school, and you’re like, Okay, I’m hearing about the theories, I’m hearing about like how social work started. And then actually sitting yourself face to face in front of a real person that’s coming for real counseling. You’re like what am I doing?! So it is cool that it’s gonna wrap around and support as you get started. So you mentioned that this was like something you set out to do and that you want to do therapy and the young adults. How did you decide like on social work?

Regine Amos  2:58 

So I graduated with my undergrad from Georgia State in 2016. So there was a pretty big gap between what I wanted to do. My undergrad degree is in journalism. So I spent years just kind of getting into the field. Then I was like — TV and film, it was journalism minor and TV and film, and it was just really not what I wanted. I thought I wanted it. I was 18, who thought I was 18 and could decide what I was going to do for the rest of my life. I’m 29 now and who’s to say this is what I’m gonna do you know what I mean? So I had no clue. So I kind of took a few years off. I was serving, hated that. Made good money but it wasn’t the best. And just kind of feeling really, really lost. So then in 2020, you know, the pandemic really set in some like, what am I doing with my life? What’s next? This all can end in anytime. You know what I mean? It was it was very much that. So I was kind of talking with friends and my partner. And they were like you were really good at like, just sitting with people when they’re experiencing emotions and just supporting them in a way that I don’t necessarily get with other people. And I was like, Okay, that’s interesting. What can I do with that? So I looked into it and I was like, I’m not going back for undergrad because I was like, I can’t. Like, I thought it was the only way to be a therapist was like psychology. I really didn’t know social work, or getting a licensed counselor or a marriage and family therapist. I didn’t know those things. So with the research and 2020, you know, having more time on my hands, I was able to find social work, and then started applying to places. I took an online program, which most of us did in 2020, 2021.

Anna Shull  5:01 

Yes I did as well!

Regine Amos  5:03 

Yeah. Yeah, that’s kind of how I fell into it. I just had friends point out, like, here are some things that you’re good at. And let’s see if we can apply it. So yeah, it’s been cool since then.

Anna Shull  5:15 

Yeah and it’s cool hearing you articulate your journey from 18, like in your young adulthood, being that that’s who you want to work with now, because I’m sure that your experience can also inform the way that you sit with people. Whenever you are doing counseling now. It’s cool to see how that ends up connecting, even though I’m sure in the moment it was like, Oh, no.

Regine Amos  5:35 

Well, yeah. Yeah, for sure. I, when people ask why that age group, I’m always like, I feel like 18 to 24 is such an impressionable year, like, I know, when you’re a child, you’re very impressionable, like 18 to 24, you’re kind of like leaving your house and you’re figuring out that maybe your parents weren’t always right about certain things, or some of the things that they taught you might have been harmful or beautiful and amazing. And you want to cultivate that in your new college phase and how to do that, or how to do that in your adult life. So I felt like that was a very life changing age for me. And I think it’s important to have some type of guidance with that, because, you know, weird. Like, I feel like my clients are always like, what am I what am I doing? And I’m like, Yeah, honestly, all of us are really figuring that out.

Anna Shull  6:28 

Right? Like, is it normal that I’m questioning all of this and thinking and reflecting back?

Regine Amos  6:34 

Yep, exactly.

Anna Shull  6:36 

Yeah, talking about your like online MSW experience, what was that like getting your degree, even coming from undergrad that wasn’t social work, like jumping into social work?

Regine Amos  6:47 

I will say, with jumping into social work, it was probably one of the first time that I felt like, is this what athletes feel like when they’re good at something? I felt, it was a match, you know? It felt like, Oh, this is what — I’m good at this. And some of these skills come naturally to me that I didn’t really think about. And I was like, wow, that’s kind of cool. So it was really, really exciting to go through that, and I guess, be validated and like, Okay, you’re doing well, like you’re getting good grades, etc, etc. Going online was interesting, because I really, I had an internship in person, but I don’t feel like I did enough in person counseling, you know, like after. So it’s interesting. I do, acknowledge and see that there is a disconnect through Zoom sometimes that you miss, but I still really, I loved it, because I would not be driving in traffic trying to get the class. All my classes are at five, like, it just wouldn’t have worked for me. So the accessibility of it was amazing. And I had really, really good.

Anna Shull  8:03 

Yeah, I really relate to that as far as like, yes, with online, you miss out on some of the community aspects of it, because like talking through Zoom is so different than being present with people and like practicing those skills is different via the camera than real life. But also it does make it an accessible way to get a degree. What was your field placement that you were doing through that?

Regine Amos  8:25 

It was supporting young adults experiencing homelessness, so different, but still the same age group. And it was, it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about systems. You know, it taught me a lot about finances as far as like, the government has this much money that is allocated to you. It taught me about a lot of maybe practices that I don’t like so much when it comes to the social work profession. It also kind of taught me like how to stand up for myself with supervision and supervisors and how to like, you know, acknowledge the power dynamic, but make sure that you stand up for yourself because you’re paying so much money. These student loans are starting back up this month. This is expensive. So getting my money’s worth. It taught me a lot. It wasn’t the placement that I wanted, I’ll say that but it did teach me a lot.

Anna Shull  9:28 

Hearing you talk about standing up for yourself and like the power differential, like you’re an intern in Social Work, new, but also like us little social workers do have so many strengths. And I think sometimes those can get kind of glossed over and so that’s something I see you promote a lot on your Instagram is about like baby social workers and looking out for that age group or age group in a profession, I suppose, of the fact that like we have value and also yeah, whenever you’re an intern, you’re there to learn. And it’s important to have like a learning environment where you’re supported to the best that you can.

Regine Amos  10:06 

For sure, I feel like sometimes baby social workers when they come in it’s just like, well, you give them the hardest stuff. That’s how you learn. It’s kind of like, I would like to bring into the space a new way of learning. You know, you don’t have to throw me the hardest case for me to learn something. And if you are, can I get the best support possible? Advocating for yourself in that space in the way that we advocate for clients, it’s important to advocate for ourselves for the education that we want, for the resources that we need. I think that’s really important. Which is why I’m all for — pay these students for these internships. It’s pay for placement. It’s crazy.

Anna Shull  10:50 

Because you are working.

Regine Amos  10:53 

You’re working! You might not be able to work your job full time, or I was working full time and interning and it was, it’s a really, really, really difficult time. Which is why I’m always advocating for like, yeah, pay for placement, like we’re not doing this for free. I get we’re doing it to learn. But you know, what makes learning better? Being able to survive livable wages, you know, or getting food when you need it?

Anna Shull  11:21 

To be able to make it right. Exactly.

Regine Amos  11:24 

Yeah. You can avoid the burnout. And because there’s like, oh, there’s so much burnout, burnout, burnout. But if we’re not really focusing on the causes of the burnout, you can’t just keep telling people to treat themselves the same way.

Anna Shull  11:38 

You can’t cure away burnout.

Regine Amos  11:41 

Yeah, like, I’m not going to tell my client like, let’s CBT this one. It’s a systematic issue, like you’re oppressed.

Anna Shull  11:51 

My thinking is right on this one.

Regine Amos  11:53 

Right. So it’s like you guys say this but we need to practice it. Yeah. It’s really, it’s really interesting.

Anna Shull  12:01 

As far as like advocating for yourself, when you were a student, even being new in the field now, did you find, did you always have like your voice in that? Or did you have to kind of like, hype yourself up, like, learn how to advocate for yourself? And how would you guess advise others who are struggling with that?

Regine Amos  12:17 

I did have to learn to find my voice, I will say, talking with other people, because I’m a person that sometimes sits on things because I try to figure out like, is this a me thing or is this the dynamic that we’re having? Then once I sit on it for a while, and if  I notice it’s still bothering me and impeding on our relationships. So if I don’t have a good relationship with my supervisor, I’m not in the space to trust them with maybe the things that I don’t feel like I did right and session, or the things that I might have messed up in, and I’m losing that value. So I would have to hype myself up, I would have to, like, talk to my partner, be like do you think — Do you feel like — how — do you think I should say something? What do you say?

Anna Shull  13:00 

Practice this on you!

Regine Amos  13:02 

Yeah. And then it would just be, I had to really tell myself, like, I’m doing this for me. And if the other person doesn’t receive it well, and I do my best to, you know, get the message across in a way that is calm and collected — If they don’t get the, if they don’t receive it, well, that’s no longer my fault. So I really have to give myself that grace. And I really have to sit on it at first. But you know, hype yourself up a little bit and give yourself grace. So like, for other folks that are dealing with that, I would say, maybe talking about with somebody, someone that’s not necessarily your supervisor, or even in the space because I don’t necessarily feel comfortable talking to like my cohort about certain things. But like, I don’t mind talking to my partner and seeing like, was this a micro-aggression? Like what do you think? And then trusting that. That’s probably another one of the things is being like, okay, no. I felt that and that was valid. And now in order for us to have a better relationship, kind of how we tell our clients, you’ve got to communicate that. Yeah, that’s what I would say.

Anna Shull  14:27 

Yeah. And that is such an important step of being able to talk it out with like, a safe space that you have because even too you can feel your emotions and get them out that way, and then be like, Okay, I felt the emotion and that’s okay. And I still feel that this was a problem. And then you’re right, like you can be calm collected about it and approach it in a way that can be really healthy. And yeah, if the person doesn’t receive that, like you did your part, and hopefully, that alleviates some of the burden off your shoulders at that point.

Regine Amos  14:57 

For sure. And then when I did have have those more difficult conversations and they were received well, that built trust in that relationship. I felt like, Okay, I could bring this to this person. I could show you all my mistakes. I could show you where I’m struggling. And that I felt like would make does make me a better therapist to my client, because I’m showing you some of my — I’m like girl, I don’t know about this one. And I feel comfortable doing that, because I know that you value what I have to say, and you value how I feel. And I feel like that’s really important.

Anna Shull  15:30 

Yeah, no, definitely and those help your relationships because, like you said, it can be hard to bring in supervision things that you think you’re maybe not as good at, because I don’t know — myself, I’m assuming other people too, you tend to think like, oh, if I share this, like, they’re gonna think I’m bad, like, all my strengths, go out the window. Whereas if we don’t focus on the things we need to work on as social workers, that’s also not helpful. And I’m helping everyone out even our future clients to be able to have good conversations and stick up for your own learning. What is something that you love about social work? And we’ve already touched on a few things, but…

Regine Amos  16:11 

I love as a whole social work out of all other like therapeutic practices or other counselors, I feel like social work really looks at the system that people are in, as opposed to like, you are the problem. And really thinking of like, the system is the problem. This oppression is the problem. The isms are the problem. And you are experiencing those and having a valid reaction. And I think that really validates our clients experience, which is really important. But also the ability within social work to like, do more than just clinical, I feel like a social work. Like if I’m like, I am tired of seeing clients, I still have the ability to go into something macro, to go into policy, to go into something different, but still supporting a community, which is something that I love, like, I don’t feel like it’s a limiting degree.

Anna Shull  17:07 

Yeah, no, it is very broad, which is exciting. And I think, even like talking about the jump from school to the real world as a social worker, like we take these macro based classes like policy, and then you take your micro like social work with individuals, and they seem kind of separate from each other, but then maybe you felt the same thing, like actually working as a social worker, you realize how much policy limits or informs or controls what we do as micro social workers, too. And it’s so interconnected.

Regine Amos  17:39 

It is. How many systems like in a college counseling center, there are systems in counseling centers, there’s systems and colleges. So in that sense, some helpful, some not necessarily helpful. So yeah, you really do see like, ooh, hi, I really respect y’all macro social workers, because policy, I did well in that class, but I would not, it’s not my fave. I was like, Oh, girl, I don’t want to go into this. I really appreciate them. I really appreciate people that do that community work because I do — I am a person that thinks like you heal in communities versus like, you have to be in individual therapy to get that healing done. I feel like community really supports us, like a relational theory type of vibe, really support the whole healing process, which is really, really cool. Yeah, I love the macro. I love the macro girlies.

Anna Shull  18:36 

With the community and like relational theory, how do you incorporate that whenever you’re working with clients?

Regine Amos  18:43 

Talking about how their relationships have affected them, or how they show up, or how they don’t show up, and why they choose to not. Like, is there a reason that you choose to not show this side of yourself to other people that, you know, is really important to you? But do you not feel like that values in other people’s faces or things like that have been really helpful, I think, because there’s a lot of impostor syndrome with the 18 to 24 year olds. So there’s a lot of like, I shouldn’t show this part of myself, because this is how people will think. So just really talking out Where did these ideas come from? And actually, if that’s something that you want to change. Would you like to share more of yourself? Would you like to show up in a more authentic way? So just conversations around how relationships looked for them growing up and how they would like to show up I think are really important, especially with impostor syndrome, because I feel like a lot of a lot of 18 to 24 year olds are like, I don’t deserve to be here. I don’t know what I’m doing. Like none of us do. What if I told you that?

Anna Shull  19:53 

Drop that little tid bit,

Regine Amos  19:55 

Right. What if I told you none of us do? Pople get to whatever age, it just doesn’t— I don’t think life or society teaches us that that’s true. I feel like society is like, you’ll get to a point in your life by 25, it’ll all be figured out and you’ll be happy. And you have a two car garage with like…

Anna Shull  20:18 

That frontal lobe develops…!

Regine Amos  20:19 

And everything falls into place! And it’s like, ah, I don’t know about that. You know? And that’s okay! Kind of more exciting than to be, you know, in this idea that you’re settled, and you’ve completed life. Completed at 25? You know what I mean? Like, there’s so much more!

Anna Shull  20:41 

Yeah, no, that is so cool. And especially that young age is when a lot of people are like, leaving relationships that they’ve had for so long and entering into new ones where it does hit it of like, who am I? What am I doing here?

Regine Amos  20:54 

And you get to decide your friends, in college more than you do in high school, like high school can be kind of cliquey. And then in college, you’re like, oh, I can make friends with different people. And like people are from different parts of the world.

Anna Shull  21:11 

Yeah, their bubbles are so different than my bubble. But somehow our bubbles are gonna mesh together, and we’ll figure it out. That’s so cool that you get to play an empowering role in some young adults lives.

Regine Amos  21:25 

I hope!

Anna Shull  21:25 

Oh yes. Definitely! Even just holding space. You got it. In your fellowship, what does the day to day look like?

Regine Amos  21:33 

So it really depends. I see clients. I can see, for myself, the most is four, if I would choose, but usually two or three, for necessary sessions. Then we have an initial screenings where we screen clients to see like, what they’re looking for at CAPs, which is a counseling center, like, what they need things of that nature, to get an idea and match them with a therapist. Then we have seminars. So we have different, a whole bunch of different seminars, the one that I just did, we had about like diversity, we have like, different theories. We’ll have like a CBT. We’ll have like how to talk about sex in therapy with clients, like we have different seminars on how to better serve our clients, essentially. And then we have hours and hours of supervision. So I get two supervised hours with my primary supervisor, I have a case supervisor where I get one hour. I have a cohort supervision where I get another hour. So there’s lots of supervision, which is really, really helpful. And you can tell that they care about the learning that I’m getting, and they and they really do want to see us do well. So yeah, it’s supervision, seminars, sessions, initial screenings, lunch.

Anna Shull  22:57 

Yes! Notes?

Regine Amos  23:02 

Oh, for sure. Yeah, I try to get my notes done — I just try to get my notes done only because I’m like a baby social worker. So I’m not trying to be like, I don’t want my supervisor to be like girl, all of these are red.

Anna Shull  23:21 

Like where are they?

Regine Amos  23:22 

Yeah, like we have — So we have a cut like ours change colors. So like, if it’s red, that means it’s past the due date. So I try to get my notes in before that. But there’s definitely, for some seconds, I’m able to do a quick little note. But there’s some times where I’m like, I need to take a break. I need to take a break from this note.

Anna Shull  23:43 

My brain needs to unpack that a little bit before —

Regine Amos  23:46 

Before I even type it out. Like I don’t think yeah, so notes. Lots of note time.

Anna Shull  23:54 

How do specific clients that you see get referred to you like from screening intake to when they’re actually with you?

Regine Amos  24:03 

So at our initial screening, they ask if they have a preference for a counselor. That could be male, female, person of color, things like that. Identify as LGBTQ±, anything of that nature. And then they look at that. They give us a schedule, because students are super, super busy. They give us a schedule and ask if they’re willing to be taped, because my sessions are taped. Then we have someone who does case assignment committee. They look at who that student is, and they looked at what the availability is for each person. Maybe match them up with like their preferences and like in person or Zoom on time, then yeah, that’s how we get matched up, which is really, really cool. I will say a woman of color is a hot commodity. I’m like, wow, okay. A lot of people are like, like to work with a person of color, or a woman of color. Especially I think it’s just working with someone with marginalized identities is really helpful. So there’s, you know, certain nuances or cultural things that you’re like, I don’t have to explain that. I don’t have to explain why it’s a microaggression. You know, it’s microaggression. You know, like, so things like that. But I think it’s a really cool process, which allows the client to let us know their preferences, and they can feel most comfortable in the space.

Anna Shull  25:27 

Yeah, and that is important to have a safe space within your therapy room that obviously there’s always a little bit, like the power differential — therapist versus client, but being able to create comfort in the ways that the college students are seeking is very cool. And then after you’re matched, is it like, guided more by the student and like, what they want to talk about? Or how much do you guide like initial sessions? What does that look like getting started?

Regine Amos  25:52 

The first sessions usually are questions of like, what brings you in and I try to get a background. It’s usually what I feel like you’re the expert on your life. So I’m just going to try to get as much information as I can to best support you. And then we’re just asking a lot of questions. We go through a lot of things. We ask goals, because we are a brief therapy model. I feel like most counseling centers have brief therapy. But you know, we’re not going to like if somebody’s like, still needing support, we’re not going to like, Well, you did it. You know, we still support them and help them. Yeah, like we have that first session where we just kind of talk about what they are looking for out of therapy. I think something that’s also important is like, past history with therapy, like what worked, what didn’t work, what did you like? What didn’t you like? Things like that to really understand where the client is coming from and what they’re looking for.

Anna Shull  26:48 

Yeah. Very cool. What advice would you have for someone who’s looking to do like what you’re doing, whether it’s individual therapy, or even like going into a fellowship?

Regine Amos  26:57 

I would say start applications early because the applications are a lot. Interviews are kind of nerve wracking. So getting and looking at all of your options, because you have more than like one option. There’s different schools that provide fellowships, VAs provide fellowships, like different places will provide them. So really look at all of your options. Feel confident in yourself, like in the cover letter, really, really make yourself shine and really feel like you have what it takes even if you’re like — cause I was like, I don’t know what, I don’t know what’s going on. But you know, we’re still gonna type it up like, yeah, I feel solid in this, this, and this. I think those are really important. But I think prior to that, really figure out if the fellowship is where you want to go. I felt like it was the best route for me because I didn’t feel like I got that clinical experience that I was looking for in my MSW program. So figuring out if that’s exactly what you want to do, or if that’s kind of what you want to do, and then like getting your applications in, selling yourself is really, really important. And when you get there, because my cohort has doctoral interns, so and they’re getting their degree in psychology, and I’m like, there’s like, I don’t know what they know. Like, y’all are talking about testings that you’ve done and this, that, and that, and really trying to fight against that impostor syndrome. Really believe that you’re there for a reason. And what you bring to the table is valid. You know, what you bring to the table is needed. Clients do meet this support, and sometimes being the space that someone can just openly talk, and someone listens to them, you might be the first person that they’ve ever experienced that with and that is extremely important. So don’t sell yourself short. I would say like really, really understand the value that you bring to folks.

Anna Shull  29:06 

I think that’s something that’s so common in like helping professions and social workers that people are so scared to sell themselves, or downplay what they bring to the table and yeah, like in a cover letter, it’s your job to let them know who you are and why you’re going to do great things like where you’re headed, but it can be so hard but it’s so important to find that voice.

Regine Amos  29:26 

Have someone you love read it. Have someone you love look it over and they’ll be like take out this “maybe”, take out this “but”, take out this “possibly”, take all of that out because if they really love you and support you they’re like oh I know you could do that or I don’t know maybe never seen you do it but I believe you can so.

Anna Shull  29:45 

Take out the “I thinks” like “I think this will happen” — no, this will happen.

Regine Amos  29:50 

“When you when you hire me”, you know what I mean? Like, already put it in.

Anna Shull  29:56 

“When I’m in this program”.

Regine Amos  29:57 

That’s what I did. I was like “when I’m there

Anna Shull  30:00 

I just write it with the assumption that I’m already in.

Regine Amos  30:03

That’s what you gotta do!

Anna Shull  30:07

Who inspires you? Like, either whenever you started social or even just now who are some key players?

Regine Amos   30:14

I feel like one of the people that inspires me most that’s not necessarily in social work is my grandmother. When I think of her, my grandmother and my great grandmother and my mom, honestly, very matriarchal family. And I feel like all of them were not social workers in the MSW, BSW sense, but were people in their community that other folks could go to. And were a safe space for people. My mom is very good at just listening. She might not give feedback, but she’s very good at listening, and she will hear you, and she will sit with you. And I think I’ve learned that from them. So they inspire me to keep pushing that forward, and let’s add a little mental health in it!

Anna Shull  31:03

No that’s incredible!

Regine Amos 31:05

And then @dopeblack_socialworker on Instagram is inspiring. I’m always like I do want to retire. [inaudible] The joy of social work. So many people in the Instagram community have been really really kind to me and really uplifted me and made me feel like I do have value. A lot of people in the social media space are really supportive of licensure, and just being there as the sounding board. So, yeah!

Anna Shull  31:48

So if people want to find you, do you want to do a plug for your Instagram?

Regine Amos  31:52

Sure!

Anna Shull  31:53

I don’t remember what it was or when I followed you but I feel like I’ve been following you for a second. And then it was like at one point you tagged a city and I was like we’re close by, in similar parts of our journeys, I’m personally a big fan of your Instagram.

Regine Amos 32:05

Thank you. I appreciate it. When I would watch you be like, you’re walking to work, and I would be like—

Anna Shull  32:12

Is that me in the background?!

Regine Amos 32:14

I wanted to be like, okay yes — because I remember there was a coffee shop you went to and I was like is this this coffee shop? And you were like yes! I was like oh we’re in the same city.

Anna Shull  32:23

Here we are!

Regine Amos  32:24

When you’d be like walking to work, I just never feel like Atlanta is walkable, so I’m like I love that for you.  

Anna Shull  32:33

The hills are not walkable. It’s not drivable either that’s the problem.  

Regine Amos  32:28

That’s the thing. That’s the gag about Atlanta. It’s not drivable, and it’s not walkable. So what do y’all want us to do. And it’s not bikeable either.

Anna Shull  32:46

No it’s not.

Regine Amos  32:47

The bike lines, although I’ll be shady sometimes, I get so nervous when bikers are by me, I’m like I don’t want to — this seems dangerous. But yeah, it’s none of those. But yeah Atlanta’s great we love it here.

Anna Shull  33:02

We do. Most days.

Regine Amos 33:03

Most days. But my Instagram is @letsunpackdat. And I talk about a lot of baby social work life, and what’s going on with me. I’ll probably be doing a post on my licensure journey cause like I postponed my exam, and now I’m kinda like do I want to take this? I gave them money. I gotta. I gotta. I already gave them the money. So yeah a whole bunch of things like that. Whole bunch of baby social work stuff so come on. We’re pretty cool.

Anna Shull 33:40

And it’s so nice to have a community of social workers on social media.

Regine Amos 33:43

It really is!

Anna Shull  33:45

Well thank you so much for your time. It’s so good to hear about everything you’re up to and how you got there so I really appreciate you being willing to interview and share.

Regine Amos  33:55

Of course. Thank you for like creating this platform and creating this space for social workers to hear about social work. I remember when I got started I was like I need to listen to every social work podcast. What am I getting into? And this helped.

Anna Shull 34:09

And now people will be listening to you. It’s a cycle!

Regine Amos  34:13

Full circle.