It started with a hypothetical business and a conversation between friends.
Desiree’ Walker, who already held a master’s degree in health management from Pitt, was daydreaming with a group of friends about opening a practice together—a pharmacist, a nurse, each person bringing something to the table. When it came time to assign Desiree’ her role, health manager seemed like the obvious fit. But something felt off.
“I don’t want to be the health manager,” she thought. “I’d rather be the social worker.”
That moment of clarity—sparked by a fictitious business plan—set everything in motion. By September, Desiree’ had made up her mind. She picked up the phone and called her mother.
“Mom, I’m going to apply to go to school to be a social worker.”
Denice Walker’s answer was immediate: “Okay, good—me too. Let’s go.”
Just like that, a mother and daughter were enrolled together in the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work’s Master of Social Work program.
Denice had been doing the work of a social worker for years—supporting people experiencing homelessness, working with kids, connecting people to housing and resources. Her first master’s, also from Pitt, was in early child development from the School of Social Work. But over the years, as her career evolved, she found herself drawn more and more to mental health and to the men and women she saw sleeping on city streets. She had a vision: a supportive housing complex where she could check in on residents, make sure they were taking their medications, gather them for group sessions, remind them they still belonged to the world.
“Social work is me,” Denice says simply. “I like helping people—I don’t know, I just do.”
What she wanted was the credential to match the calling she had always felt. The MSW, she knew, would give her the professional foundation—the framework, the language, the licensure pathway—to do the work she had already been doing in a deeper, more impactful way.
Desiree’ brings a different kind of breadth to her studies. As a former nurse’s aide, a Big Brothers Big Sisters mentor, a foster parent who welcomed more than 20 children into her home over seven years, and eventually a job coach, she has spent her career moving toward people in need—often before she had a name for what she was doing. She’s also the mother of a daughter who is set to graduate high school and has set her own sights on a career helping others.
“I want to have all the resources and be able to help people with whatever they need,” Desiree’ says. Her interests range from hospital social work to community-based positions in libraries, where she envisions having a desk and an open door—a place where anyone could walk in off the street and get help filling out a form, building a resume, or simply figuring out a next step.
Being in the program together has been, by both accounts, one of the unexpected gifts of the experience. They study together, talk through assignments, push each other—and push back on each other. They don’t always agree, which they both find quietly energizing.
“We have different perspectives,” Desiree’ says. “I’ll listen to her, and sometimes I’ll just be like—actually, I don’t agree with you.”
Their styles are different, too. Denice is ahead of the assignments. Desiree’ procrastinates—then gets everything done on time. Each one, without meaning to, keeps the other accountable.
“It’s a funny little cycle,” Desiree’ laughs. “She’s already on the next assignment and I’m like—wait, I’m not there yet!”
Denice finds something poetic in it. “When she was little, I made sure she was doing everything she was supposed to,” she says, laughing. “Now she’s getting me. What goes around comes around.”
They are looking ahead. After graduation, there will be the LSW exam to study for—together, possibly on the same day—and then years of supervised practice toward the LCSW. Denice is already thinking beyond that, dreaming of a doctorate. Desiree’ is happy to finish the MSW and reclaim her evenings.
“For the next few years, we’re in this together,” Desiree’ says. “This is definitely bringing us closer together.”
Denice nods. She has no intention of stopping.
“I don’t go by age,” she says. “I just keep going.”