Career change: media into social work. Is it worth it?

Hey everyone!!!

I don't know any social workers personally so I thought I'd reach out here. I'd love to get some advice and some differing perspectives on making the move.

In 2021 I graduated with a bachelor of Media and have been a writer (mainly doing advertising/copy/content/campaigns, part of in-house agencies etc) for 4 years now. Since the end of 2024, I've been thinking about going back to uni to complete the MSW. A little bit more context, I've been through a lot of hardship very young and feel I have so much to give through my lived experience alone. I would love to make a positive difference helping disadvantaged kids/young people. Ultimately, I'd like to become a primary school counsellor but I'm aware of the huge emotional load/burn out/bringing home the stress of it all.

My job at the moment is fine, I'm relatively talented and I like my coworkers but I feel like my effort and my time would be best served elsewhere. I've just turned 30 and I'm aware of the 1000 hours of unpaid placement and not sure how that would go down with a mortgage. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.