MSW Student Spotlight: Miguel Rivera

Miguel Rivera couldn’t help but notice the number of social workers who surrounded him in life. Whether it was through jobs or friendships, Rivera gravitated toward people who dedicated their careers to helping people. 

It makes sense that Rivera received his Master of Social Work degree from the School of Social Welfare in May. Rivera loves talking to people and wants to contribute through multiple avenues to make a difference. 

“With social work, I realized it's a great intersection,” said Rivera, who was a speaker at graduation. “It’s a combination of understanding and validating the systemic problems that we see throughout the world: poverty, climate change, our personal situations.”

Rivera started with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, a common path for many social work students. He enjoyed the idea of digging into mental health but wanted to go deeper into why people deal with these issues. 

“I always liked starting broadly and looking at different pathways to make a difference,” Rivera said. “What’s causing the struggles? How can we, as social workers, impact that from the top down?”

Rivera spent most of his time in the MSW program focusing on the clinical side, but is intrigued by macro social work that looks at larger systems. His practicum at Astra Mental Health and Recovery in Topeka gave him experience in both. He spent time shadowing professionals and working one-on-one with clients. 

Rivera likes the idea of doing client work while also advocating for the LGBTQ+ community, keeping his options open with a broad range of career paths. 

“Ideally, I would like to be a practicing therapist clinician, while also having a lot of time to then participate and give back to the community,” Rivera said. “I really want to work with the queer community. It’s more important now than ever to participate.”

Video edited by Naomi Sui Pang.