Graduated from Berklee Online in 2020 with a degree in Music Business.
Position: Social Worker at Alberta Health Services, a large, public, reserach hospital wtih over 800 beds. “Our role helps to support the nonmedical, practical side of things. For example, financial resources, medication coverage, coping/mental health serfvices, meal delivery, and so forth. It can be crisis intervention or just connecting people wtih long-terms programs.” Officially she’s on a team with other social workers, but her work involves working with doctors, dieticians, and folks in many other roles.
Overview: Brooke did a 2-year vocal performance program, then transferred to Berklee Online to finish her Bachelors Degree, which she did part-time 2016-2020 while working. She completed her degree and was set to do an artist internship at an incubator in Toronto when Covid hit, leading to a very lean year. By the end of 2020 Brook realized she wanted be be in a more stable profession that involved helping people. She started volunteering for a food security group and other nonprofits and applied to schools, and was admitted to the Bachelor in Social Work program at the University of Calgary (Edmonton).
Thanks to her prior schooling, Brooke completed the program in the spring of 2023 after just under two years. In her last year she did her practicum (a.k.a. internship) at Alberta Health Services, and was fortunate to be hired into her position after graduation, first on a temporary/part-time basis, then after a few months on a temporary/full time basis, then as a regular full-time employee after just under a year.
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You can see Brooke’s LinkedIn profile here.
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Choice Quotes: “I love connecting with people–that’s what brought me to music in the first place, that emotional connection. At my job I’m there with people, supporting them through hard times.”
“Doing Berklee Online while I worked full-time taught me good time management. I learned how to make solid connections online with professors and peers–something I use in my job. Berklee Online also made me a better writer–it helps that I can write well.”
“Mine is a role you have to be very adaptable. We don’t always know how long it’ll take for people to recover and what their needs are.”
“I still love music dearly, but it’s more for me these days. I don’t have any pressure, but I feel so drawn to music and I’m getting back some of the passion that had been missing among the stress of life. Listening to music, playing a one-off show, practicing and enjoying it that way.”
“Before you fully dive in to social work, explore volunteering opportunities and human services jobs you can do without the degree to find out if it’s something you want to do. It’s not for everybody, but I’m really grateful to be where I’m at.” It helps to explore before you fully dive in. Find your niche.”
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