Speaking Up

在成长过程中，21岁的卡罗琳·阿尔伯特(Caroline Albert)感受到了观察家庭成员应对危机的影响 mental illness. 她很快意识到她想帮助那些患有精神疾病的人; making a psychology major an easy choice. Having never taken a psychology course before, 卡洛琳彻底研究了她想要就读的大学的项目 College stood out to her.

 

“WC的三个专注方向吸引了我，我想进入社会工作或 治疗学毕业后，所以专攻临床咨询确实设置了 psychology program apart. I love all the hands-on opportunities available; even if 你不是在实验课上，你有机会接触材料.”

作为心理学专业辅修西班牙研究和公共卫生的学生，卡罗琳 她说，她正在以新的视角看待世界，并学习最佳实践 for aiding others. 她找到了一个绝好的机会，把她的新技能发挥到极致 他在费尔法克斯县的Rec-PAC (Pretty Awesome Children)担任包容性主管 Park Authority. 

“我和各种残疾的孩子一起工作，他们需要一个更多的露营地 staff to help accommodate varying needs. The camp is for lower income families, so I saw kids from all different backgrounds. I was speaking Spanish every day communicating with parents and kids. It was a really rewarding experience being able to see how 只要你做一个好人，扮演一个好角色，你就能给孩子的生活带来很大的不同 model; it really rubs off on them.”

“有一天，我不得不拨打911处理紧急情况. 之后，我不得不继续这一天，告诉孩子们紧张是可以接受的， but then show how to recover from that as well. That day has given me the confidence 我知道我可以从事社会工作，处理严重的情况，并做得很好.”  

卡洛琳的西班牙语学习之旅始于高中，但在那之后，她的西班牙语学习速度呈指数增长 her freshman year at WC; as someone who wants to work with specialized populations 在她的未来，她发现说多种语言将大有帮助. 

“这里的教授们帮助我认识到说西班牙语是我可以做到的 说另一门语言真的很有帮助吗，即使只是勉强的 enough to get by in a conversation with someone. Helping specialized populations that 并不是总能得到他们能得到的所有帮助，尤其是 when language is a barrier, is really important to me.”

卡洛琳在马术队找到了她的家，并在乔治家工作 一般招生，在那里她欢迎未来的学生到校园. 

“WC has helped me find myself and grow as an individual. Each of the different organizations I’ve been exposed to help me feel like I've come out of my shell; I am much more confident in myself and how I present myself to others.”

卡罗琳发现她作为乔治将军的经历提供了一个强大的剧目 沟通技巧，这在她的职业生涯中是非常宝贵的. 

“I love being a George’s General. It’s definitely helped increase my self confidence and knowledge of how to speak with people; particularly being able to meet with people 从这么多不同的背景中学习如何对待学生，而不是 whole family. 我很自信地阐述了WC，并展示了我的学校 我很高兴能去，并反过来用它来帮助别人，因为他们决定是否 or not to come here,” she says. “作为一个想从事社会工作或咨询的人， 当乔治将军对我来说是很好的练习，不仅让我感到舒适 除了说话，还有倾听，学习别人从哪里来，怎么做最好 to relate to them.” 

通过她的公共卫生辅修，卡罗琳觉得她能够把所有的人联系在一起 her studies.

“我不知道公共卫生辅修课程的存在. Jim Windelborn, my first year advisor, encouraged me to try it. I think the field of public health incompasses so much of psychology, as well as the Spansih speaking population; there's so much overlap that it culminates all my interests.”

卡洛琳期待着运用她在九州娱乐官网学到的技能 通过社会工作或咨询来改变他人的生活. 

“我认为我想要做的事情来自于拥有家庭的个人观点 members struggle with mental health. I want to be able to use my gifts of being able 要与人交往，除了我正规教育的这些科目之外，还要真正地去做 help others. 它来自于一种想要帮助那些受到精神疾病影响的人的想法 health and I don’t think it is talked about enough.”