Student Spotlight: Creating an Impact on Queer & Non-Binary Youth
Get to know MSW student Vincent T. (SSW ’26)
Vincent T., a BU research technician and current part-time MSW student, reflects on their journey from neuroscience education and research to a career switch into social work. Vincent speaks about how their experience with therapy greatly impacted his life and sparked his motivation to pursue a career in social work. Vincent also details their hopes to provide queer and non-binary youth with resources, support, and affirmation in their future career.
What is your background? What are your interests outside of work and school?
For the most part you can find me at a gay bar. I love drag shows and going to the movies. In the spring and summer, you can find me rollerblading around Boston with my friends to Trader Joes or to the record store. I love going to the gym, and I feel like that’s gotten to be a big part of my routine for mental health. I also got into kickboxing two years ago, which is something so different from what I’m used to doing, but it’s been really fun. I’m originally from Connecticut. My dad’s from Jamaica Plain though, so it’s funny that I ended up here, and my mom is from the Bronx, NY.
In 2018, I graduated from Dickinson College in Pennsylvania in neuroscience, and then I moved here for a research position. I made a really big career switch, and I originally looked into the medical field. I feel like I always have to explain this part, because people are like how do you go from neuroscience to social work? Honestly, a lot of that was because of my mom telling me to [pursue] that. Since day one, my mom has been telling me to be a doctor, and I think it’s because part of the Latino culture, coming from two parents who immigrated from Puerto Rico and Ecuador. It kind of worked out; I was pretty good at science. It was kind of my thing in high school, so it made sense to go into neuroscience in college; it was all I really grew up being told to do. I loved college and everything, but I was happy to leave just because the academic part of it was crazy. I’ve been in Boston since 2018, mostly at BU. My first year here, I was doing the BU prep program, which was kind of in its baby years. I was supposed to go to a PhD program afterwards, but I put that off, and I kept putting it off [while] work[ing] in research labs.
When I really sat with it at the end of 2022, I was like “okay why am I still doing this? I don’t want to be in this field anymore.” I wasn’t really getting as much out of it as I was when I first started doing research post college. I thought, “Maybe this isn’t the best feeling to have before applying to PhD programs.” I really sat with myself, [and thought about] what I liked out of my research positions. What I kept going back to is the relationships I would build at work. I would have a terrible morning, come to work, and talking with my co-workers (not even about the terrible morning) would get me out of that negative headspace. What clicked with me is that I have always been a people person in high school and college. I was a tour guide there, so it made sense. Even just personality wise, I feel like I’m a friendly person. I always came back to the idea of people. I thought about why I wanted to be a doctor [at first], which even feels weird saying that, but I wanted to go into the medical field to help people.
Why social work? What brought you to the field, and how did you become interested in it?
I had a therapist for four years, and there was a point where I thought about becoming a therapist. I remember it being a fleeting idea, and I didn’t sit with it too much. I was really thinking about how much I’ve gotten out of therapy, and I talked about the track with my therapist. I kind of paid him to talk to me about the School of Social Work. It was a really good resource honestly, to have that inside look, and he was able to give me an idea of how I can use my background and identity, too. I identify as non-binary, not [to] promote myself, but I’ll be able to be a resource for other non-binary people and people from Latino backgrounds. I got to see how my experiences really could help someone else.
I think therapy did make my life so much better, and I learned how to come into myself. When it came to talking about gender and the fluidity of it, he couldn’t really comment. He was obviously supportive, but because he was a cis-man and 70 plus [years old], from an older generation, it was hard for him to really talk to me about [gender nonconformity].
When I thought about being that resource for someone, it was another really motivating idea of why I wanted to be a therapist. I want to be a resource for other queer people; representation is important. When I was looking for a therapist, I [felt that I] couldn’t relate to a straight man. What I wanted from a therapist was someone who could relate to my experience. I’m sure I’ll have a client who is from a different background, and I can only support them to a point. Hopefully I can be as best as a therapist can be for them. I loved my therapist, but at the same time it got to a point where I needed more help in a subject that he wasn’t necessarily well-trained in. [I want to be] that representation and resource for queer youth or adults.
What was the transition from neuroscience to social work like for you?
I started working in most of my positions at BU in a research setting at wet labs, and I wasn’t getting a ton out of that, but I started at the BU Hope study which has more interaction [since] it’s clinical. That’s where I’ve been able to get a lot of face-to-face contact and practice the social worker aspect. My favorite part about the job is that there’s days when participants will come into the center, and I navigate their visit with us. I have to go through a bunch of paperwork with them, but a lot of the paperwork are surveys and questionnaires about their mental health and their journey. [The study is] for everyone 60 plus, so a lot of people are experiencing loss or have experienced some sort of loss. I think that aspect of being a therapist does come into play sometimes in this position or just being someone that they can talk to; I’m kind of like a backboard for [them]. Even though I’m there to evaluate memory and thinking, [I’ll often have] a 20-minute convo about how someone is coping with their family having dementia. Everyone I work with is amazing at that lab. I really enjoyed this position compared to being in a microscope in a room alone all day in the dark. Doing that stuff, I thought was really cool at first, but then just as the years went on, I was like, “I just don’t think that this is sustaining me.” I feel like it had an expiration date.
What’s your favorite memory or experience in your academic career at BUSSW?
Honestly, I’ve really liked my professors a lot, just compared to college. Going to class feels a lot different [to how it was in undergrad]. It’s interesting learning about something I actually have passion for. In [undergrad], I feel like I was almost just doing it for the degree… what else I was supposed to do! It’s fun going to class, showing up, and wanting to be active in the conversation. Even just raising my hand [and] talking, I feel like the conversation and the dialogue we have in class is always really meaningful. I get to know my classmates and teachers on a more personal level, which is so new to me because in neuroscience, I’m not sharing about my trauma or experiences.
Why is social work worthwhile to you?
I’m dying to have clinical experience, just from getting this taste of it in research. I just had an interview at Boston Glass for a field placement position, and they told me how I would be a mentor, then eventually get into therapeutic mentoring for queer youth of color. It just made me so excited talking about it, even just the idea of myself working with non-binary youth or queer youth. They’re so confident in themselves; to be able to come out that young, and obviously all these kids going to Boston Glass are going through something. If it’s homelessness, or trans people needing gender-affirming care… I mean they’re all going through some hardships. I think that’s admirable, seeing someone so young being able to be confident in themselves. It took me until I was 21 to come out. It obviously took me a lot longer. [But] again, [I’m happy] to be that backboard, or to be that support system, just because I know how much it would have changed my childhood. I feel like sometimes I don’t fit in in some places, just because of how I identify and express my gender. [I want] to be there for someone else, and say, “No, do whatever you want, wear whatever you want.” It makes me really excited to be what my therapist was for me.
What work are you proudest of during your academic career?
I am still early [in my academic career at BU]. I would say that even the last semester during finals, and like grades shouldn’t mean that you’re good-at-this, you’re bad-at-that kind of thing… But it was weirdly validating. I thought, “Okay, I am in the right place.” Even just being in class, and getting to know my co-workers, and having classmates [with] the same values is validating; I did make the right choice in my next career path. I have no regrets leaving science; that might be another really big moment for me .
What are your favorite courses, professors, and events at BUSSW?
I had the opportunity to consult with one of my professors, Kate Hanneberry, on an issue pertaining to my job. In my position now, we have to go over all these participants’ health history, and a lot of people either have experiences with alcohol or drug misuse. I reached out to her because I caught myself being a little nervous on the phone talking to these people about it, and I just wanted to make sure that I’m using the correct language and not adding any stigma to addiction. She gave me a couple write-ups and papers on how to effectively speak about alcohol misuse and to people experiencing addiction. She was a really great resource; I shared [her information] with my whole lab.
I’m also in racial justice right now with Layla Khayr, [and] even on the first day, she was such a boss; PhD, she just had a kid, and she’s back to teaching again. Again, [Racial Justice is] a class that I never took in undergrad. Especially as a white practitioner, [racial justice] is something I have to keep in mind, and further educate myself on. I have been enjoying that class just because I’m learning about current stuff that’s going on that I might [have] missed. I also value how she handles a conversation and navigates it. I just feel like she’s very in the future of academia, I really love her.
What are you looking forward to after graduating? What fields interest you?
I hate five-year plans because I never live up to that; it never works out for me. But my five-year plan once I get my MSW is that I want to work as a therapist for queer youth. I feel a 35-year-old won’t necessarily want a therapist who’s younger than them; that’s what my thought process is. When I do get my MSW, I think it would be beneficial working with youth first and then changing my scope to older people. I would love to specialize in gender non-conforming and trans people [as a] therapist for those groups.
I remember [when] I was looking for a therapist in 2018, it was so hard finding a gay therapist. So, one, [I] could market myself pretty well, but on the other side, I want there to be more access for people to talk about their queerness. Not even just their queerness but talk to someone who has experienced the same things as them or to some degree. Even today as I am looking for a new therapist, there are very few genderqueer therapists covered by my insurance.
What is your dream job in the field of social work?
A lot of the teachers that do intro classes are teachers part-time, so they have their therapist gig [as well]. One of my professors works at BMC, I think she’s a project manager technically, but a lot of them teach part-time. I think I would like to do that. You need four years’ experience in the field post-MSW to come back and start teaching classes, so I started thinking about that not too long ago. I think my neuroscience background would come in handy for human behavior; something like that would be interesting. Just getting to know up-and-coming social workers, I think would be really interesting and rewarding.
What is your advice for other MSW students?
Even now in class, a lot of people are fresh out of college. [Usually] 20-23 [year-olds], and I’m 27. I’m not that old, but I do feel old in the classes sometimes. There are other people like moms and dads in my classes, too, so there is a wide range of ages. I would try to remind people [that] there’s no rush. Really take your time to figure it out and sit with [it].
If you are not necessarily right-out of college, I would say just go for it. You’re never too old. No path is the ‘one’ path, and you can go your own route and use the tuition remission program, even though it does take a little longer.