There are 101 ways to be a social worker, says Zarinah Washington, ‘05 BA Social Work and ’19 MA Social Work. But, providing advice to actors and theater staff as a tour manager for Broadway shows was one of the unlikeliest ways she’d expected to practice her expertise.

“As I was doing the tours, my social work mind was still going. When performers are on the road and doing their shows, what they are experiencing is unnatural. It’s not a normal environment, and it changes their physicality and behavior,” Washington said. “My door was open. Everybody needs a social worker!” 

While in high school at the Las Vegas Academy of Arts, she had dreamed of becoming a Broadway tour manager. So, even though Washington already had her bachelor’s in hand, she left the glitz of the Las Vegas Strip for the bright lights of New York City.

Now that she’s returned to Las Vegas and UNLV as a field liaison in the School of Social Work, Washington’s found another way to incorporate arts as a means of providing healing to others. 

She’s the founder of Nevada Creative Arts Collective, an organization that plans and holds events related to arts, culture, community resilience, and leadership. As an adult, Washington had come to realize that she gravitated toward the arts because it provided her stability. She’d often experienced housing insecurity, having moved nearly 20 times as a child.

“I’m able to make a social change and be able to use my voice and advocate for others who have not found their voice,” said Washington, a first-generation college graduate. “Social work gives you the tools so you can empower others so they can find their voice and advocate for themselves.”

As a field liaison, Washington matches undergraduate and graduate students to sites that will help them fulfill their practicum requirements. A practicum gives social work students a chance to practice the concepts they’ve learned in the classroom. They may end up being matched to work at nonprofit organizations, government agencies, clinical settings, and other non-traditional sites that usually don’t staff a social worker. 

“Seeing students learn and explore the profession is my favorite part of the job,” said Washington. 

Why social work?

It's the most flexible, diverse career choice that you can make. Even if you just went into general social work, there's so much that you can do with a social work degree that folks really should take a look at it. You can apply social work to most disciplines, most industries, most genres because it's all about human behavior in the social environment that we live in.

How did the Broadway experience inform your journey?

I worked in arts administration. I had a chance to work in commercial theater, which is kind of where Broadway came in. It was taking care of people, nurturing relationships. I did most of the business side of commercial theater. We went out onto the road. We toured with live productions, did payroll, and booked travel. Then we would travel, maybe 50 to 60 people each week, to different cities to perform a show. I wasn't doing social work per se, but it kind of felt like social work, maintaining those relationships for our actors on the road. 

What has your career taught you up to this point? 

You have to be very flexible, and you have to be willing to pivot. There's no straight line to success. It's lots of bumps, loopy loops, and curves. So as long as you trust the process and remain flexible, you'll be perfectly fine. You'll be exactly where you're supposed to be. 

What would you tell students who are considering a career in social work? 

Be flexible. The only thing constant is change. So, if you get really used to things being the exact same way all the time, you will be in for a world of hurt once the floor is removed from underneath you. So, if you can be ready for change at any moment, then you'll do just fine in social work as a student. 

How do you practice self care in a field that requires a lot of you emotionally?

Self care requires me to stay present with where I am. I have to be self aware and keep tabs on myself. I am no good to myself when my nervous system is disregarded, and if I can't actively listen to someone else.

I do things that bring my nervous system down, like having five minutes of quiet, or playing certain songs that bring peace like listening to a Native American flute when I sleep. Sleep can reset your nervous system. Overwhelmed doesn’t look cute on me.