Fall 2017 - Winter 2018 MSU School of Social Work Newsletter MSU-Social-Work-2017-2018-Newsletter | Page 21

“People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did,
but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
—Maya Angelou
When did you decide to
pursue a degree in social
work? Why did you choose
social work? MSU?
A large part of what drives me is
my experience as a young person in
long-term recovery from addiction.
When I entered recovery at age 21,
completing my undergraduate degree
was a priority; at that time, however,
campus did not feel like a safe or
supportive place to try to maintain
abstinence.
During my senior year, I approached Student
Health Services about my experience. In fulfilment of
the internship requirement of my Family Community
Services degree, I was able to work with the Health
Promotion Department to establish MSU’s Collegiate
Recovery Community (CRC), a peer support program
for students in or seeking recovery from addiction.
My internship supervisor was an MSW who had
received her degree from Michigan State University.
She encouraged me to look into the program, and
after reading up on the profession, I was sold. I knew
that social work was a good fit because its mission,
philosophies, and values are a direct reflection of
my personal and professional goals. I also liked the
flexibility of the degree and felt that becoming a social
worker would offer me the opportunity to pursue
many different career paths. MSU’s part-time program
has allowed me to complete my degree requirements
while working full time to grow the CRC.
Have any instructors had a particularly
strong impact on you?
I entered my first semester of the program with a
concentration in clinical social work. However, after
taking Dr. Klein’s Social Welfare Policy course, I knew
I had to consider a different path. The class opened
my eyes to the injustice inherent in so much of our
country’s policy and inspired me to get involved and
make a difference.
I had pursued a degree in social work because I
wanted to improve the lives of those affected by mental
health and substance use disorders, and legislative
advocacy provided me with a whole new means by
which to do so. By the end of the semester, I had made
the decision to channel my passion for helping others
Fall 2017/Winter 2018 SSW NEWS
into affecting systems-level change,
and I switched my concentration
to Organization and Community
Leadership.
Dr. Klein also encouraged me to
apply for the Advocacy Scholars
Program, a scholarship program that
provides training and mentorship
for students interested in careers in
professional advocacy. I am honored
to be a part of the 2017–2018 Advocacy
Scholars cohort and excited to learn
from the passionate and distinguished
faculty behind the program.
Interview with Emily Young, MSW 2019
What has been your favorite class? Why?
After discovering my interest in policy advocacy,
I decided to utilize some of my elective credits to
participate in the School of Social Work’s Inside/Out
Prison Exchange course. The 400-level class takes place
in the Cooper Street Correctional Facility and brings
together MSU social work students and incarcerated
students for a semester-long course on criminal justice
policy.
Together, “inside” and “outside” students study
the intersection of mental health, substance abuse,
immigration, and the criminal justice system, and come
up with policy solutions to difficult social problems.
I have never felt so connected to my peers as I did in
Inside/Out. The class built in me a deep empathy for
incarcerated individuals and reaffirmed my career
goals of improving mental health and substance abuse
programs and policies.
Do you have any advice for others
considering social work?
If you are considering social work, I would
encourage you to go for it! The decision to further my
education has opened so many doors for me personally
and professionally, and I have felt so consistently
supported and empowered by the School of Social
Work faculty and staff. If you have questions or
concerns about the program, reach out to someone and
ask!
Everyone I have encountered has been so willing
to help guide me in the direction of my academic and
career goals.
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