Raquel Cohen

I attribute my success to staying curious. I think the struggle with case management could have really knocked me down, disappointed me, led me to question myself and who I was and my skills, but instead, I kind of embraced the fact that maybe there was something else that could pull me, maybe something else I could be good at. I also attribute my success to the support systems I have, so my fiance, my family, my friends, who only encourage me ever to kind of follow my passions and grow. I'm really grateful to them and myself for seeing in me potential that I don't know that I always knew was there.

One of the best pieces of advice I've received is to be open, to not only discovering what's out there, but discovering what's within myself. When I was transitioning out of case management, I felt for a while lost, and I had really trusted close family and peers who told me to open up and use this as a learning opportunity. Open up within yourself to what you already know and what you maybe haven't totally processed, and then also to what you can learn, to how you can grow, to what other opportunities exist. I think that was honestly key for me, because it can be easy to pigeonhole and say, okay, I'm a case manager, that is what I do, that is what I can do, that is where I will be. Change happens all the time, and I think sometimes it's scary, but when we embrace it, it can lead to really, really wonderful things.

I would say, first of all, thank you, and second of all, we need you. I see this dearth of roles in the field, and it honestly drives me, because on the one hand, it can be surprising and maybe a bit of a letdown, and also we need more of this. We need more comprehensive sex education. We need more interpersonal skills-based dialogue and training and presentations. We need more sessions where people can talk to others and learn and grow and maybe confront biases or learn more about each other. I would tell people trying to enter this field, women especially, full steam ahead. If this is your calling, you're meant to do this, and the world is meant to hear what you have to say.

One of the challenges is funding, and that can relate to politics. I think there is a fear of what sex education covers. Right now, abstinence education is maybe more of a focus and a bit more allowed in this time because of an idea that if we tell kids different things that they may not know, that puts them in danger. When I think, unfortunately, the reality is, with technology and the internet and kids having phones or access to phones at wildly younger ages, they're gonna get that information, and how it's presented, and what they learn, and what they know from it will be categorically different if it's from a skilled teacher or school system versus if they see it in a video or if they saw it in a picture or if they heard it from a friend. I think research also negates that fear of exposing people to certain material leads them to do it more. It actually, when it's done comprehensively, can provide the exact types of care and information that allow people to make the right choices and potentially avoid harm, rather than perpetuate it.

Community is a big one, especially with people who have different day-to-day lives and histories and pasts. I think just community, that curiosity that I was talking about, to learn and to hear where other people are at, and to everyone kind of benefit from knowing more about the world and knowing more people and people who are different. I think diversity is a huge one. And I would also say compassion. I think it can be a sometimes, unfortunately, not compassionate world, and the more grace we give ourselves and others, I think can only build better relationships and bonds and groups of people who can then come together and restart the circle of community that I was just talking about.