马西Nyachogo joined Bryn Mawr as the director of student and career services for the 社会工作与社会研究研究生院 in January. In her Staff Spotlight, Nyachogo discusses her career background and role at the College.
Can you tell me a bit about your career and educational background before joining the GSSWSR?
During undergrad, I worked at an afterschool program for undocumented youth. There were a lot of families from Mexico and Central America that were living in the area who were very under resourced. I also did some community organizing work helping the moms of the kids in the program advocate for the program’s continued funding because we weren’t sure if it would continue to receive funding. 我真的很喜欢这份工作，我妈妈告诉我的, “你知道社会工作是一项你可以找到工作的事情吗??” So, 我去宾夕法尼亚大学读研究生只是因为, 当时, 我不知道布林·莫尔有多棒. 在我的第一年, 我在西费城的一家社区医疗中心实习, 我的第二年实习是在他们的拉丁美洲联盟大会 家庭暴力计划.
My first role out of grad school was as a medical advocate at Einstein Hospital with 路德教会安置所该组织是该市反家庭暴力组织之一. I was there for about 10 years and climbed in leadership at that organization in different roles. 在我离开的时候, 我是家庭暴力项目的项目主管, which brought me to Bryn Mawr because I was really looking to get exposure to a different type of work. 我在家庭暴力服务部门工作了很长时间, 虽然这是很重要的工作, 这在情感上也很费力, 如此迅速地晋升领导层是一件很难管理的事情. 我在路德教友院的时候, 我指导城市垃圾学生, and I loved being able to work with students at that stage where they're defining who they are as a 社会工作er and getting out into the world. I was excited to get more of a chance to do that when I saw the open role at Bryn Mawr for director of student and career services.
你把你在DV工作中的哪些技能带到你现在的职位上?
There's actually a lot of overlap with domestic violence work and the work that I'm doing now to support our students. 在家庭暴力工作中, 一个基本的信念是，幸存者驾驶巴士, 作为一名社会工作者, 你就像副驾驶一样, but also support them and be on their team and help them succeed in whatever way that looks like to them. I bring that approach to how I support our students now with career coaching and even writing coaching. 我真的很享受成为学生的搭档, 而不是决定我认为什么对他们最好, but listening and helping students think about what they want out of their careers or a certain class, 并成为陪伴他们走过这段旅程的支持来源. 那's my natural approach, and I'm glad that it seems to be resonating with people.
听起来你在这个职位上身兼数职. 你的日常生活是怎样的?
每天都不一样. 一天中我最喜欢的时间就是开学生会议的时候. I usually have two or three student meetings on a given day where students will come 对我来说 with a variety of goals or questions. 有时，学生们正在寻找一般性的职业指导. 其他时候，是那些在研究生院挣扎的人. I’ll even meet with first-year students who are thinking about their second-year placement and want to be strategic with the search process. I take on that liaison role that understands what challenges students are facing and what kinds of support can be put in place for them. gsssr为学生提供了很多支持, 但有时, 当学生在挣扎时, 他们自我隔离是因为他们只是想熬过去. 我认为, 尤其是在学期结构上, 这就印证了我经常听到的观点, “会没事的. I'll just push through this next three weeks, and things will be totally fine.” So, I can be somebody who meets with people in that space and asks them, “What if it's not fine? 如果事情没有因为你有四天的假期而发生根本的变化怎么办?” I really enjoy the time that I get 对我来说et with students and get to know people, 尤其是作为新人. 人 have been so generous with sharing their stories and their struggles and I consider it such a privilege to be the person in that role.
I also do a lot of event planning around creating opportunities for student connection and student learning. I work with the team in the student and career services office to plan events that provide opportunities for students to connect with each other. We'll organize various info sessions, bring in speakers, plan film events, that kind of thing. 我也很幸运能在更大的层面上做一些委员会工作. I'm actually working with an interdisciplinary group at the undergraduate college, which is looking at how Bryn Mawr at large can live out our values and what kinds of programming we can offer to students to provide opportunities to learn and grow in the ways that we aspire to. 我真的很喜欢那份工作, 太, because it gives me a sense of what's happening across the whole Bryn Mawr community.
你在空闲时间喜欢做什么?
我喜欢去布林莫尔的健身房游泳. 我有两个孩子，所以什么是空闲时间呢? 我们花很多时间玩, and we go for little walks through the dog park by our house every night after dinner to play spot the dog. 我有一个非常强大的家庭和朋友支持网络. I'm an extreme extrovert, so most of my free time has to be with other people. 我也喜欢看电视真人秀. At the end of the day, once all the kiddos are asleep, that’s what I’m watching.
你想把学校里的人团结起来，这很好. 作为忙碌的学生, I think many of us are just going through the motions and trying to get through the program, but it’s so important to have community gatherings and make connections with others during our time here.
当我在社会工作学校时，我也有同样的感觉. 你知道你什么时候, “如果我还在上高中, 知道我现在知道的, 我就会有不同的表现,”? 在这个角色中，我可以做到这一点. I’ll say to students, “I know you think you're just going to come here for class and leave. 但你猜怎么着? 你真的要留下来聊芭比了.“我们最近有一个机会. 娜塔莉亚·古萨克分享了一部电影 我们的美国家庭 这是最具影响力的纪录片. 我们大概有10个人在那里, 纪录片一结束, people naturally started circling up in groups to share their reactions and how they were going to walk away from this experience. 那, 对我来说, 当你选择参与时，这是一件很自然的事情吗, 你会发现其他人也需要并且想要那样, 人们自然会被圈起来. And is there anything more healing as a 社会工作er than feeling like you’re not alone?
我优先考虑创造机会，让人们以一种自然的方式联系, 不管他们怎么想. 也许你喜欢的不是芭比电影，不过，对了，应该是. Maybe your thing is a discussion on coping mechanisms or a career fair or networking event. 展望明年, I'd love to think about some programming that pulls in our more introverted friends, 比如有一个手工角. 我们有一些人可以教别人如何编织和钩针. There's also a community partner that's interested in doing some gardening with us. I want to develop different opportunities and create an environment where people can connect. 如果他们想要联系，这仍然取决于学生, 但让我们弄清楚如何为人们这样做奠定基础.