Flexibility and Connection: The Online MSW Experience
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In this episode of the Connecting With Care podcast, we explore the inspiring journey of Ron Mouw, a student in Baylor University's online Masters of Social Work program. With a background in civil engineering and military service, Ron discovered his calling to social work during a visit to Baylor with his daughter. He shares insights on the importance of community in online learning, his impactful internship with Adult Protective Services, and offers valuable advice for prospective students considering a career in social work. Tune in to hear how Ron's experiences highlight the transformative power of connection and purpose in this rewarding field.
Transcript
SPEAKERS: Lillie Walker, Ron Mouw
Lillie Walker
Welcome to the Connecting with Care podcast. My name is Lillie Walker. How does a graduate program cultivate connection, community and growth in a virtual setting? Today, we hear from a student navigating flexibility, rigor and relational learning online. Join us as we talk with Ron Mouwabout the MSW online experience. Hello, Podcast. I'm Lillie and I'm here with Ron. Today we're going to be talking about the MSW, the online experience. I'm in the residential program, so I'm actually super unfamiliar with the online experience. So, I'm excited to hear from Ron, about, what it is, what it's all about, and hopefully give the listeners a little bit of insight, into some of the details. So, Ron, I'd love to hear from you, just introduce yourself a little bit.
Ron Mouw
All right, sounds good. Good to talk to you, Lillie. Again, my name is Ron Mouw and maybe some background… I grew up in a suburb of Chicago, called Hickory Hills, so that's what I call my hometown. But I live now with my family in Hinsdale, Illinois. It's my wife of 34 years and my two college-age daughters. One in Italy right now studying and the other is, at the school they both go to in California, Pepperdine. So, so yeah, I guess right now I'm a student in the Online Master of Social Work program. And I started in the summer of 2024. After this semester, I will have five classes left. So not that I'm counting down or anything, but it's good to have the end close, and two of those are my final internships. So, all good. Let's see what else maybe. Yeah, my undergrad is definitely not social work, it's civil engineering from the United States Military Academy at West Point. So, a little bit different than what I do in my career, now, which is mostly software, transitioning to being a social worker.
Lillie Walker
Wow, that's such a diverse background. That's really, really interesting. So, if you had to describe where you're l with using just one word, how would you describe it?
Ron Mouw
I would use the word family, just because – two reasons maybe. One is it's a good place to raise a family. When we had a one-year-old, we knew we needed more space than our townhome. So, my wife looked at me and said she wasn't going to move more than one town away from her parents who were helping watch our oldest now when she was one. So that gave Me two options. So, we landed in Hinsdale.
Lillie Walker
Awesome. And then what is your go to order at your favorite local coffee shop, if you're into coffee, or tea, if you're maybe into that.
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I wanted to maybe make up something as I thought of this, but mine is boring. It's just a large coffee from Cafe La Fortuna, which is a local coffee, shop in our downtown area. So, unlike my girls, who, when I pick them up a Starbucks, I have to actually type it up in my phone before I order it, mine's pretty easy.
Lillie Walker
Oh, the classic. I love that. And then finally, what would you say is your ideal free day?
Ron Mouw
So, my favorite place in the world is the Northwoods of Wisconsin. So, my favorite, my ideal day would be spending time with my family and friends at our cabin there. And I would start the day, with a great discussion and prayer over coffee on the deck. And eventually, we'd move to the water and do water sports, such as wakeboarding and tubing. And, my ideal day, I would finish with evening fishing and then a campfire.
Lillie Walker
Wow, that sounds amazing. So I'm getting kind of the vibe: Big family guy and also, like, some outdoors and some things. Awesome. Thanks for sharing a little bit about yourself just so we can kind of get to know you. And now I want to kind of move into more of your personal journey, into social work and into the online program at Baylor. So, if you had to just kind of explain that, what brought you to Baylor and social work?
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I think my journey to Baylor and into social work really are tied together. So, the short answer, is that I feel the Lord is calling me to do this work. And it started, it surprised me, but it started when I came to Baylor with my oldest daughter, Grace, in 2022. she was a high school senior,
00:05:00
Ron Mouw
kind of considering colleges, and it was just her and I that went to Baylor. And I was talking, to Melody, an associate dean at the Garland School of Social Work, and just, like, thinking, oh, this might be a good major for my daughter. She's very empathetic and kind. And after Melody described what social workers do, I made some kind of comment like, that was very inspiring. And then that's when Melody said something that kind of changed my course, professional course, anyway. She said, ‘you know, we have an online MSW program that might be a good fit for you.’ So, it took me a couple years of just considering it and praying about it, and then I decided to apply and kind of jump in. So, so, yeah, that's the background, I guess.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. And I think you're talking about Professor Zuniga. Correct?
Ron Mouw
Correct, yes.
Lillie Walker
She’s the Associate Dean, yeah. I had her for my, class for Groups, and she is highly inspiring, so totally can see how you could have, gotten that idea from her. She's really great.
Ron Mouw
Yeah.
Lillie Walker
So, yeah, thanks for sharing. That's great to hear. I'm wondering how you've grown personally and professionally throughout your time here.
Ron Mouw
I feel like I've learned just so much at the Garland School that I'm not sure really where to begin with this. But as one of my current professors pointed out recently, many of the courses teach us how to help both our future clients and ourselves. So, I think I've gained both resiliency and the knowledge and practice to be able to help others.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, that's great. And that's so true. I mean, I find myself in a lot of our classes learning about just like basic interpersonal relationship types of skills, and it really is so helpful. and then, yeah, like you said, able to take that into practice. And so, I'm curious, what is your, Internship?
Ron Mouw
Yeah, so my internship, that I finished was, APS, or an Adult Protective Services caseworker. So, it was my job to kind of investigate, reports of abuse, neglect and exploitation of older adults while simultaneously help them, really give them resources and so forth. So, yeah, it was a great experience and learned a ton, you know, from my supervisor, Liz, and then the other social workers at my agency, specifically the APS group.
Lillie Walker
Cool. Very cool. okay. And so how do you see kind of your experience? How do you see that it's shaped you and then how do you see it shaping your career in the future as you, as you move on to be a social worker in the world?
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I think, well, first off, I guess I started my professional career in the army, so I've noticed that there's really many similarities, for me anyway, between being a soldier and being a social worker. I know most people wouldn't make that comparison, but I'm going, going to go ahead and make it and explain, hopefully. But, you know, both require sacrifice for the good of others. And, you know, you're in both cases you're really volunteering to go into hard situations, right? In hard spaces. So, kind of over the course of my Baylor, schooling, I've really developed the utmost respect for social workers and kind of all they do from the high-level leadership positions they're in to the one on one, you know, clinical kind of therapy sessions they do. So, I'm really, you know, when I graduate, I'll be very proud to call myself a social worker.
Lillie Walker
Oh, that's great. Yeah, that's. But yeah, being in those like intimate and really hard spaces with people is a major skill. And definitely something that the social work education really focuses on is like, how do you hold that, those challenging spaces and be someone that's competent and able to provide excellent care in those situations? That's great. Okay, well, thanks for sharing about that. Now we're going to just kind of get a little bit more practical about the online program and just kind of like what does that actually look like? So, could you describe for me a typical week for you in this program?
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I don't know if I have too many typical weeks, but I can at a high level. I'll explain. Like most people I am pretty busy. Right. So, I split my time between,
00:10:00
Ron Mouw
Baylor assignments. might be readings or larger assignments or just kind of the weekly, we call it async, and my job. I run a small software company and then also my commitments as a Christian and just being a dad and a husband. So, you know, the weeks, kind of differ, but they're busy.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. So, can you describe kind of. You said some asynchronous work. what about your class schedule? Like classes – is there a synchronous component to this?
Ron Mouw
Yes, my classes this trimester, I'm taking two classes this trimester and they're both on Tuesday evening. So, one starts at 5:30 and goes to 7:00 and the other goes from 7:30 to 9:00. So, I find that those are really engaging. And you know that, that's not a - there's more time spent in prepping for those and doing the readings and watching videos and doing small assignments. But pretty much it's every, this trimester it's every Tuesday for me. Tuesday evening.
Lillie Walker
Okay. So yeah, that's a little bit different than the residential program where we're in person classes on Mondays and Wednesdays. And so, it sounds like because of the trimester situation you maybe have a lighter like course load and then it's in the evening time, which makes it much more flexible.
Ron Mouw
Right.
Lillie Walker
Okay, great. okay, so obviously you're busy. You run a software company and also are in grad school. That's pretty remarkable. So, I'm wondering how you balance that coursework with your life outside?
Ron Mouw
Well, I would say, maybe, I was going to say week by week, but I'll say day by day. Really, I just have to prioritize where I spend my time. So, I oftentimes make good use of Saturdays to do schoolwork. Now, sometimes I have personal things going on on Saturdays, but I find that that's a good, quiet time. The phone's not ringing. I'm not getting a bunch of emails to kind of work on things. And then, you know, honestly, I also show mercy on myself by keeping in mind that there's not enough time in the day to get everything done. So, it brings me peace to know that, you know, I can't accomplish everything.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, totally. I learned that I was a student athlete, for the past few years, and I quickly realized, hey, sometimes the best you can do is all you can do. And that's getting it done is better than caught up in the details of all the things.
Ron Mouw
What sport did you play, if you don't mind me asking, Lillie?
Lillie Walker
I played softball.
Ron Mouw
Oh, awesome. Wow. At Baylor?
Lillie Walker
I played four years at Duke for undergrad.
Ron Mouw
Oh, my goodness. okay.
Lillie Walker
And then I played one more year at Baylor.
Ron Mouw
Oh, wow. Good for you. That's quite the commitment and time, time requirement.
Lillie Walker
Thank you, but I definitely learned the balancing, and so I can definitely relate to you there. okay. So, as a student in the residential program, I've definitely felt the community and just like being in Waco, all the things that that's brought to me. So, I'm curious, kind of what that looks like for you, and how you felt connected to the program.
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I mean, this is my favorite part of the program. I just love my classmates, especially the connections. I have all kinds of classmates, but there was a core group of us that started out in the, “Summer 2024 cohort.” And we started the program together. And as a matter of fact, we communicated heavily this week just on different things, as some of them are getting ready to graduate this coming spring and, through GroupMe and so forth. So, the online students are amazing, and they really oftentimes have a wealth of life and professional experience already. And I want to just give a shout out to my classmates, including my buddy Sean Hamner, who I serve, who we both served in the army, so we share similar experiences, and we're about exactly the same age, although he looks a lot older than me.
Lillie Walker
Oh, that's cool that you're able to make connections. I imagine it's across kind of across the country - there's some distance between you?
Ron Mouw
Definitely, definitely. They're all over the country, which is interesting. And, yeah, and we help each other. You're working on projects together sometimes that are assigned or you choose partners. So, yeah, that's been a pleasure. And then the other thing, when I look at community that I'll mention is really just the quality, and, you know, this being in the residential program, is just the quality and commitment of the professors that teach the classes. All of them have real world experience as
00:15:00
Ron Mouw
social workers, and I found that they're really competent and they're all pulling for your success, your success in school, and then even afterwards. So, you know, that's. That's how I look at the community.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. And I'd love to echo that because I think the professors do such a great job of bringing in their practical experience that they've had working in the field, but they're also so, such good just teachers, and really, like, tailor, the education and the curriculum to where we can take it in as students and then are able to put it into practice. in our internship experiences.
Ron Mouw
Definitely.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. That kind of brings us into, I know you, I asked about it earlier, your internship experience, but I'm just curious if you have any more details you'd like to share about that.
Ron Mouw
You know, maybe one thing I'll mention is that when you're doing your internship, you're doing social work. So, I really felt like it wasn't just doing work to learn. Like, in my case, I mean, everyone's internship is different, but pretty much my boss or my supervisor went on the first call with me, and then after that, I was on my own, helping people and investigating APS caseworks. And I loved it. I mean, it wasn't easy, but I was like, I felt like I was already giving even before I graduated and officially became, you know, a licensed social worker.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, absolutely. You are in some ways kind of thrown to the wolves a little bit. You're put in, like, social work is a lot of tough scenarios, and you're put into that kind of from day one. Like, if you're in the residential program, we start our internship concurrently with classes, and so you jump right in. But there is just so much, like, rich learning experience that you get from that. and just figuring it out on the fly is such a huge part of it.
Ron Mouw: Of course, of course.
Lillie Walker
All right, well, just to kind of close it up, I would love to hear if you have any advice for some of our listeners that are considering the Baylor Garland School and the field of social work.
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I guess, my advice is probably pretty simple, like in, broken down as you described, like, first on the Baylor side, I suggest that they look at what Baylor stands for. Baylor was a great fit for my core values of faith, love and honesty. But it may not be for everyone. So, I think that's an important thing to look at any time you're looking to join any organization, right? And then my experience with the Garland School is that it is one of the premier social work programs in the country. Of course, not much, you know this as a college athlete, that not much in life comes easy. So, if you come here, you've got to expect to do, you know, some work and be challenged. So, and then maybe the last thing on social work is, you know, there's a high demand for social workers. So, if you enjoy helping people, you know, I'd say, I'd suggest you jump right into what I would call is more of a calling than a profession, but, yeah, jump into it. It's just amazing. There are some amazing opportunities and there's a ton of innovation that's going on in this space, to help people. So, it's, I, think it's a good profession.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, that's great. That's great advice. And then if you can maybe go into specifically what the online program, what kind advantages that has brought you?
Ron Mouw
Yeah, I mean, the obvious one you mentioned is that people are from all over the country, so you can do it from anywhere. You know, I wasn't in the position to tell my wife we're going to move from the Chicago area down to Texas, right? So, that's a benefit, and then I've already mentioned the great classmates and professors that you'll be working side by side with. But the other thing that I will mention, maybe it's somewhat unique to my experience, but, Baylor also works with you to fit it into your schedule. I mean, you definitely have to fit it into your schedule and make sacrifices, but when my work schedule picked up earlier this year, my awesome student support manager, Amanda, adjusted my course schedule to better accommodate the current reality of my life. So, of course, I really appreciated that. And it just, you know, just shows some flexibility. And you know, they, Baylor understands that their online students have jobs and they have families and they
00:20:00
Ron Mouw
have other commitments. So, I would say that's an advantage of this program.
Lillie Walker
Yeah, that's great, great to hear about the flexibility, because the residential program, it's pretty like, this is you're a full-time student and there's not a lot of like, wiggle room there. But it's good to hear that you're able to still get the rich learning experience but have it fit into your life, wherever that may look like. And so, as a kind of a final question, I'm kind of curious, where do you see social work taking you? What kind of career fields are you looking into after graduation?
Ron Mouw
Yeah, everyone asked me this, including my family members and so forth. And, I don't have it exactly figured out. I, I feel like I will go in the direction of something that helps children, working with children directly or to the benefit of children, whether that's, helping families or helping parents that then help the children. So, I'm working with adults directly, but it benefits the children. So, I feel that, that, you know, you're exposed to so many different types of social work as you go through your curriculum that I feel like that's kind of tugging me towards it. And right now, I'm taking a, one of my classes is a child and family class, and I'm really, I'm really enjoying it. And you know that kind of just has made me believe that that's probably the direction I'll go into.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. Tugging on the heartstrings of family, which obviously super huge value to you. Well, I just want to say you were so humble in saying that ‘I don't know if I have great things to add to a podcast,’ but you, inspired me. I think you have a great story and, I appreciate your time. And I also want to say thank you for your service in the military. That's fabulous.
Ron Mouw
Well, thank you so much, Lillie. I appreciate your questions and yeah, I hope this all works out great.
Lillie Walker
Yeah. So, I, hope that our listeners are able to get some, some more knowledge about, the online program and just, yeah, just really be inspired by your story. Sic ‘Em Bears! Ron's experience reminds us that community can thrive anywhere when purpose leads the way. Join us for more stories from students shaping the future of social work.
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