Despite coming from a family of lawyers, what she experienced in the criminal justice system, as a clerk for judges and an aide to defense counsel in trials, never felt like the right fit.
She was ambitious to try to right wrongs on a larger than individual scale. Then her mother died suddenly. Whitney sought out a grief support group and encountered social work practice for the first time. She liked the comfort she found. That introduction eventually led her to study for an MSW. A native of Syracuse, N. Whitney tackled online study determined to overcome the distance inherent in distance learning.
She found support and solidarity within a group her proactive peers created for fellow online students in lieu of an official channel to authentically connect outside of the virtual classroom setting. She credits school administration with listening to online students and has worked with administrators to start an online mentoring system. She expects to work on developing kits for community organizations to help them understand trauma as a community health crisis.
Her first placement was a micro-level experience with Community Connections, the largest not-for-profit mental health agency in Washington, D. She worked in the Southeast D. Even though she intends to work on a macro level, she appreciates what she learned first-hand from the micro-level experience. You are powerful.
Use that power to elicit social change. But wherever she goes after she graduates in August , it will be to work for all our good. Making changes from the inside out. Learn more about our part-time online MSW program.
