Mary-Margaret Sweeney Archive
Last week was sort of a blur. I spent Sunday through Wednesday in a hotel conference center for the 2013 National Association of Social Workers IL Chapter conference. I had done some work on the event this past summer in …
At the end of 2013, the Reimburse Educators Who Pay for Academic Year Supplies Act was to have run its course. Under this Act, school teachers who purchased supplies for the classes were able to claim a $250 tax credit …
I took a lot of time off the last week.With P out of town, I hunkered down for the weekend and watched hours and hours of Netflix. I took naps. After my bad knee gave out on me Saturday, I …
I began my day Thursday at full staff meeting for the agency. It reminded me of my days in a tech start-up. A bunch of (mostly) young passionate people, crowded around a conference room table, mismatched chairs pulled from offices …
This is part 2 in Mary-Margaret Sweeney’s series Chronicling an MSW Internship. My father was first-generation American. His parents came from Ireland through Ellis Island, and settled in New Jersey. Because of this family history, I have held a long …
The trees outside my living room window are quickly going from green to gold. It’s a new school year. Even the years between college and graduate school, I thought each fall about the thrill of packing up a book bag …
This weekend, known feminist rabble-rouser Hanna Rosin published an article on Slate declaring that the gender pay gap we all fret about is, actually, not real. My husband sent me the link thinking I was going to lose my mind. …
One of the first pieces of jargon I learned in the social work world was "self care.""If you can't take care of yourself, how are you going to take care of your clients?" Indeed. Absolutely. I'm with you. The insistence …
I had a dentist appointment yesterday, in my old neighborhood of Edgewater. I don’t have occasion to visit it much, so I made a point to arrive early, and walk past my old building. Peering into that wrought-iron gate was …
I've been thinking about violence a lot lately. As a social worker, as a Chicagoan, as a feminist.Last week, I was in Indianapolis, Indiana, my hometown, visiting friends. Monday, my best friend, husband, and I venture to south central Indiana …
