The playground is one of the first places children learn who they are in society, but when you’re someone with a social work degree you can help kids use play to understand tough issues that effect their lives. Why? Adults in therapy may be able to work through their problems with conversation; however, children who experience neglect and suffer violence, or navigate learning disabilities and loss have issues they can’t always grapple with in conversation. And that’s where you could come in: helping children understand themselves through playing.

Writers create more than fiction. Authors who are social work experts write about all kinds of topics—mindfulness, anxiety, eating disorders, motivation, addiction and recovery, and even community organizing. The myriad titles on social work-adjacent topics are proof that not only can you take your degree in any direction you imagine, you might break new ground in the process. (TBH, you could also make like writer Alice Walker, who has her social work degree, publish a novel as incredible as The Color Purple, and win a Pulitzer Prize for your efforts. Po-tay-to, Po-tah-to).

Social workers often manage cases involving complex situations, and speak on behalf of children, the abuses, the homeless, or other groups who don’t have powerful voices of their own. As it happens, preparing for a career in social work can also help you be a community advocate. These advocates make it their career and mission to educate the public about a cause, be a bridge between the public and representative of those causes, or convince the public of the rights and needs of marginalized people. Most importantly, it’s the community advocate’s job to mobilize the public at any level—from local to national—to create change on behalf of that cause.

Speaking of community advocates, did you know that’s what Samuel L. Jackson did before he was ever Nick Fury, or got sick of snakes on planes? That’s right—SLJ majored in social work in college, and then became an advocate in the Civil Rights Movement, speaking out for equal rights. Needless to say, his path’s a little different now—and majoring in social work doesn’t necessarily create a straight path to stardom—but this is a fun example of the creative streak you can find in the social work field (and the people who pursue it).

Social work and advisor go hand in hand, and no matter which name you give it, at its very core the capacity to act as an aide and guide is the same. This being said, a degree in social work doesn’t limit your advising ability to just that—you can do what Suze Orman did and hold your degree in social work while occupying a profession as a financial advisor. A financial advisor's goal is to create a comfortable and trustworthy relationship with clients, and to help them with financial guidance that will benefit their lives. With a social work background the ability of advising is already a strong suit, creating a versatility where you can lend your guidance in both tumult and taxes.

Representing people, educating the public, and lawmaking are all part of a position in congress. But did you know they also can be used in social work? Social workers are constantly representing patients that have asked for their services, and by the help, advice, and guidance they give, they become part of educating the public. As for lawmaking, the connection may not be readily apparent, but there are elements policymaking akin to the cognitive other strategies social workers give patients to work through whatever their dilemmas might be. And if this didn't already sound awesome enough, take a look at Barbara Mikulski— she has her masters in social work and is the longest serving woman in the US Congress.