Practicum and Community Engagement - Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis

Alum Working to Address Affordable Housing in St. Louis

admin — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 11:21:00 +0000

Lilly Murphy always knew she wanted to help make positive change in her hometown of St. Louis. After several false starts, she found her path and enrolled at the Brown School. In May 2023, she earned her master’s degree in social work. Initially, Murphy contemplated following in her parents’ footsteps and becoming a teacher. She earned a degree in psychology. She spent time working at the Magic House, a local children’s museum. Yet, her sense of uncertainty persisted. Finally, she discovered her true calling after embarking on an AmeriCorps VISTA position with the St. Louis Vacancy Collaborative, an organization that works to reduce the negative impact of vacant property in the city of St. Louis. “I’ve always had a deep-seated desire...

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Social Work Student Draws on Experience to Support Student Athletes’ Mental Health

admin — Mon, 06 Feb 2023 20:58:00 +0000

Ali Margherio was five years into a stint as a St. Louis area wedding planner when the COVID-19 pandemic started to roll across the globe. A return to higher education and a career change was always the plan. But the time never seemed right. Her job impacted by the pandemic; Margherio enrolled in the Brown School’s Master of Social Work program in 2021. “I took stock of what I was doing and my joy level and realized it was time for a shift,” she said. The bearer of a history degree, Margherio thought she would be a history teacher. Conversations with her teacher wife and social work friends made her realize that she didn’t want to teach, but instead wanted to help people...

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Student Abram Saroufim Champions Mental Health Support in Immigrant Communities

Natasha — Mon, 09 May 2022 05:00:00 +0000

Abram Saroufim found social work through trial and error and a little bit of luck. He originally planned to be a doctor and majored in chemistry at Cornell University. But when it came time to register for the MCAT, Saroufim realized he didn’t really care about medicine. So he went to work as a tutor, thinking education may be the right field. And, indeed, Saroufim loved the gig, just not the teaching part. “It was the mentoring and coaching that I found really rewarding,” Saroufim recalled. “That’s when it occurred to me that counseling would be my way of helping people.” Later, Saroufim met a stranger on a park bench in Union Square Park in New York. He was waiting...

The post Student Abram Saroufim Champions Mental Health Support in Immigrant Communities first appeared on Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.