Kara Green rewrites her story with UNK’s social work Bachelor of Science degree

“Who would have thought my story would be a success story,” Kara Green, recent University of Nebraska at Kearney Social Work B.S. graduate, said. 
 
Her story began more than 1,000 miles away in Long Beach California where she was removed from her mother’s care and placed into the foster care system. She soon found herself as a homeless youth in Oregon and later a single mom in Nebraska. 
 
These challenges allowed Green to discover her passion and career in social work to give back to the many systems and organizations that had helped her turn her story into a success. 
 
After being placed into the foster care system, Green found herself in her second foster home placement with her mother’s former boyfriend.  
 
“He wasn’t super hard on me. It was like he understood me,” she said about her foster dad. 
 
Although Green felt understood, she still felt the “internal struggles and raw emotions” of her difficult upbringing. 
 
“I definitely didn’t have my head on straight and I felt like running away was the answer to my struggles,” she said. “When I look back, I totally wouldn’t have done it that way, but it's made me learn a lot of other skills, like survival.” 
 
Green boarded a bus and traveled more than 700 miles north to Oregon. 
 
A good Samaritan approached Green and took her to a local transitional housing program for homeless youth, which Green had never heard of before. Due to her being from California’s jurisdiction, she was sent back to her foster dad. 

Green found a transitional housing program closer to home and her foster dad encouraged her to give it a try. Throughout her two-year stay, she met many young people with similar backgrounds to hers and became close with the staff members.  
 
“I told one of the workers at the time, ‘I want to be just like you. I want to do this for a living,’ she said. “Then she told me the route she took, and I knew I wanted to pursue social work. I just felt like everything in the world was hinting at this is what you are destined to do.” 
 
Beyond finding her passion, she also met her child’s father there, who eventually encouraged her to move to Nebraska. 
 
“At first, I said no,” said Green. “Then I thought it might be good to move out of California and start fresh with a new life and people that don't know me.” 
 
Nebraska brought joy, a daughter named Caroline who is now seven years old, and strengthened the relationship between Green and her foster dad, but it also brought heartbreak. 
 
“Another learning curve was me and my daughter's dad splitting,” she said. “I had to learn a whole new sort of skills to be a single mom.” 
 
Not only was Green a single mom but she was also working as a certified nursing assistant and taking online courses at Central Community College in Grand Island.  
 
In 2019, she graduated with her associate degree in human services. After a nearly two-year break, she enrolled in UNK’s online Social Work program. 

Completing most of her college career completely online allowed Green the flexibility she needed to work and raise her daughter. 
 
“I could still be there for my daughter and not have to sacrifice time with her, her events, or miss any of her milestones. I had a great experience being an online student,” she said. 
 
Beyond the flexibility, she was pleasantly surprised to find the program offered diverse course offerings which allowed Green to focus on youth and adolescents. 
 
Her focus did not change when she began the program’s internship with the Department of Health and Human Services Child Protective Services unit.  
 
Towards the end of her internship, Green was encouraged to apply for an open position within the CPS office, which she accepted days before her graduation. 
 
With a new career and degree, you could say Green’s story is a success, but she’s not even close to done writing her story. 
 
“I feel like when you're an adult and life is taking you all these routes, people usually give school a break,” she said. “I commend myself that I never stopped going.” 
 
In the fall of 2024, Green hopes to attend the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s online master’s social work program. 
 
“I want to keep learning and I want to keep being better,” she said.