Social work graduate inspired to make change

Published: December 16, 2022

Oranga Tamariki Disability Advisory Group member, Hannah Watson, talks about her journey to graduating with a Bachelor of Social Work and the people who inspired her.

Transcript

Hannah Watson:

Kia ora my name’s Hannah Watson I am now a social worker, and I’m based in Taranaki. Today we are celebrating me achieving my Bachelor of Social Work.

I think I wanted to become a social worker so I could be heard differently. It’s not been a typical journey to get here, I went into care when I was ten, and then my experiences in care weren’t always positive.

My last foster placement was kind of like a Women’s Refuge halfway house here in Wellington which wasn’t safe. I moved out, went flatting and I was working night shifts at Burger King and then going to school during the day and it just wasn’t sustainable. Didn’t have that support network, so I left school.

It’s taken seven years. It’s been challenging going through a degree while working, while being a mum, and then also I’ve recently been diagnosed with ADHD. And so, Open Poly worked out really well because the way in which I learned could be done in my own time and my own space.

Hannah addressing Grant Gaston:

Grant was my very first social worker when I went into care.

I guess I wanted to invite you today and have you recognised because–

Grant:

Bless. 

Hannah:

I don’t know if you knew the impact you were making at the time as quite a new practitioner.

Grant:

No, not at all.

Hannah:

The practice that I observed when reading the notes reconciled with how I felt about myself at that age and how I felt about you being a safe person for me.

I guess that really inspired me to go on and do social work. I don’t think I’d be a social worker without having had you as my social worker as a young person.

Grant:

Wow, that means so much. You got off your bum and did it, not me.

Hannah:

I still believe the system’s broken and it needs change. It needs strong, fierce, passionate advocates that can recognise it’s broken, and come up with ways to try and support.

I want to lift others up. I want the kids in the homes now to have a voice, to have a safe person, to have a role model and example that there’s life after care, that you’re more than your trauma.

This is just a really cool example really good social work has had this really awesome consequence.

Cause now I’m going to go change the world, right?

Oranga Tamariki Disability Advisory Group member, Hannah Watson, just celebrated a special milestone that was seven years in the making.

Influenced by her own experiences in care, Hannah graduated with a Bachelor of Social Work from the Open Polytechnic in November.

'I think I wanted to become a social worker to be heard differently,' says Hannah.

'It hasn't been a typical journey to get here. I went into care when I was ten, and then my experiences in care weren't always positive.'

Hannah invited her first social worker, Grant Gaston, to join her whānau at the ceremony as a way of acknowledging the positive impact he had in her life.

'Grant was my very first social worker when I went into care. He really inspired me to go on and do social work,' says Hannah.

'This is just a really cool example that really good social work has had this really awesome consequence. Because now I'm going to go change the world, right?'

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