Spending the last year at RISE Community Solutions / CAC Osceola has been an unforgettably formative experience. Leaving almost feels like a breakup. Packing my office to move back to Tampa, I am excited for this next chapter but forever grateful for the learning and experiences I had here. I will always hold other organizations and jobs to the standards this one gave me. I had a Executive Director who was consistently honest, prompt, and vulnerable about the political landsc

The Bigger the Boat, the Slower the Movement One of the most significant lessons I have learned in leadership, organizational life, and systems work is that the bigger the boat, the slower the movement. When you are a passenger, you see only your corner of the ship. You look around and naturally wonder why progress feels delayed or inconsistent. You may ask yourself why the ship is not moving, why things feel stuck, or what you personally can do to influence the direction. Th

For most of my life, I’ve tried to be the version of myself that made other people proud. I was the responsible one, the grateful one, the humble one. I carried myself with an almost instinctive desire to honor the people who raised me, to reflect their love and their sacrifices in the way I moved through the world. But beneath that, there has always been a tension—this tug-of-war between my authentic self and the guilt that emerged whenever I spoke up, pushed back, or chose

“I want to foster and adopt. I don’t want my own biological kids.” I have said some version of this since I was sixteen, when conversations about marriage and the future started to feel real. When I pictured adulthood, I always saw myself as a mother. I loved children. I was the person smiling at toddlers in grocery store lines or playing peek a boo with babies on airplanes. Motherhood always felt natural to me. But having my own biological children did not. As I grew older,

Currently in therapy I am learning the difference between capability and capacity. As social workers, our hearts are large, and our instinct is to say yes . We are capable, competent, compassionate people. But just because we have the capability to do something does not mean we have the capacity to do it. Understanding Capacity vs. Capability Think of capacity like a glass of water. The capacity  of that glass determines how much water it can hold. How much it can “handle.” C

“If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you going to love somebody else?”— RuPaul Charles When we ask ourselves “What is healthy love?” , it’s just as important to ask “What isn’t?” This is a question that, for me, came at a cost, the kind of cost that reshapes your sense of self, safety, and worth. When “Love” Isn’t Love I spent the developmental years of my life in relationships that I thought were normal. I excused behaviors that were manipulative, isolating, and

I am 24.Wild. The life I have is far from what I ever imagined, which I think is true for most people. When I look back on this past...

A raw and introspective reflection on navigating the “birthday blues,” healing from past trauma, and learning to celebrate survival and self-worth amid lingering guilt and societal pressure.

RISE & Shine: Standing with Families in Uncertain Times, a community event centered on hope, advocacy, and prevention. It explores Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the harm of the “bootstraps” mindset, the weight of stigma, and the financial case for prevention. It also highlights the role of social workers as navigators, advocates, and sources of hope. At its core, this piece is a call to action: survival is not enough—every family deserves the chance to thrive.

Recently, I had the opportunity to reflect on one of the experiences that shaped my journey to social work while applying for a School of...

One of the hardest adjustments to make as a high-achieving, fast-thinking person is receiving feedback that goes against your very...

Being a leader is a lot like stepping into the role of a coach. Yesterday, you were on the field as a player: gritty, competitive,...

You don’t have to learn the hard way. But if you’re like me, that’s where most of the lessons seem to come from. My biggest growth has...

I have been wrestling with something lately: why do I feel so compelled, not just wanting but feeling like I have to, fix other people’s...

“The rat is always right” comes from B.F. Skinner’s work on operant conditioning. The principle reminds us that a subject’s behavior is...

Ever since high school I have said, “I am not sensitive, I am highly susceptible to feeling a lot.” I am a feeler. I feel things deeply....

After spending a week serving at Camp HOPE , a camp for children who are survivors of domestic violence, I came home with more than...

“But Tori… why are you even there if you’ve been so vocal about your critiques of the organization?” Simple: The power of AND. Not...

Do You Know What a CAC Is? If you don’t, that’s actually a good thing. When 1 in 4 girls  and 1 in 5 boys  experience sexual abuse before...

What CS/SB 254 Really Means—and Why You Should Be Paying Attention Let’s be clear about what CS/SB 254  is—beyond the sterile legislative...

I always knew pageantry carried a stigma—at one point, I even perpetuated the harmful discourse myself. I knew people would have...

Before the NASW-FL Annual Conference officially began, I found myself in an unexpected moment of leadership. Encouraged by a peer, I...

If your protest sign were someday printed in a history book, what would you want students to see? More importantly, what kind of world...

This semester has been a rude awakening. Taking on my first true “adult” leadership role as President of the Social Work Society—our...