Our stories
Jessee Caleb
B.S.W. senior
“I was able to make a difference by helping …. ”
- Jessee Caleb
Jessee Caleb thought he was a good listener – after all, that trait was one of the key reasons he decided to pursue an undergraduate degree at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Social Work.
“In high school, I thought a little about social work, but wasn’t quite sure," said Caleb, now a senior in the Bachelor of Social Work program. "I started at VCU and soon decided that social work was the route to take. I knew I really wanted to help people.”
Caleb said that people naturally would open up to him, and he assumed that made him a good listener. Humberto Fabelo, the B.S.W. program director, and his entire staff, quickly set Caleb straight.
“That myth was blown apart in one class,” Caleb recalled. “They taught me that listening is a learned skill, and it takes more than people disclosing their information. It's also about knowing how to respond to that information. It was helpful to learn the distinction early in the program.”
This year, Caleb’s internship at the International Hospital for Children has provided him with the opportunity to exercise his listening, and other refined communication skills, in some extremely unique and challenging situations. The Richmond-area nonprofit organization brings children from six countries in South America and the Caribbean to the U.S. for medical care.
“Last fall, I was able to spend a long period of time with one family from Belize. The child was 12 years old and was struggling with several severe health issues,” Caleb said. “I really learned a lot about direct practice with her and her grandmother.”
As a social worker, Caleb viewed the family as a system. Even though the child was technically his client, when her grandmother fell ill, he knew she needed support as well. He said the experience introduced him to the challenges of working with different cultures, genders and ages.
“The girl was really young,” Caleb said. “It was hard for her to understand why I was there and why my job was very different from the volunteers who would come and play games with her.”
Regarding the intercultural experience, Caleb said it put his listening skills to the test.
“They speak very fast and very low,” Caleb said about the girl’s family. “If I didn’t pay extremely close attention to what they said, I’d miss a very important bit of information.”
It was a powerful experience according to Caleb.
“I was able to make a difference by helping,” he said. “Sometimes in social work, you don’t see an immediate difference. But working with the children you can often see an immediate difference.”
Caleb’s field experience is coming to a close in May upon graduation. Until then, he is working with new challenges in the areas of goal planning and assessment for the International Hospital for Children. This time, he is working on a long-term intervention plan for a client who will be returning home in a few weeks.
“This is really a challenge because once this client leaves,” Caleb said, “I will not be able to keep in contact.”
Regarding his own long-term plans, Caleb said he’s trying to be as realistic as possible and recognizes the importance of gaining more professional experience before entering graduate school.
“My goal is to graduate and work for a few years, and then decide where to go from there,” he said. “Right now, I’m leaning toward pursuing an M.S.W.”