Cassandra Boyd '17
Master’s of Social Work Student, University of Michigan
I spent my first two years of undergraduate at another bigger school pursuing a nursing degree. But something about that school didn’t feel right. Not only did the degree I was pursuing feel off, but I felt like a number, like professors didn’t seem to care if I made it through. I visited Trinity while searching for a better fit, and the staff and professors I encountered helped me to realize that this was the place for me.
At first I wasn’t 100 percent sure on a social work career, but the program was so impressive. As I learned more about the various opportunities in social work, I realized this was what had been missing—I wanted to know and feel like I could make a difference.
Once I had settled into the social work path, I loved the opportunities of volunteering, interning, and student work—all of which helped all of us students to be more well rounded as we went out after graduation.
Over the course of my time, I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to pursue work directly with children, or if I wanted to work on the administration side. I appreciated the flexibility the social work degree allowed as I explored both of those options. Throughout my time at Trinity, both in the classroom and around campus, professors took the time to talk to me, get to know me, to understand my interests, what I like, and what career would best suit me. They guided me and helped me to see that I was more geared toward the bigger picture—setting up, evaluating, and guiding programs. Knowing that was my niche, my professors encouraged that in me. Everything they did was so that I would have the skills, impressive items for my resume—if they thought it would help, they would advise me to do something. I got to go to a few important social work conferences. Once, after doing research with a group, a professor encouraged us to submit the work to a conference, and we were selected and able to lead a conference session for the North American Association for Christians in Social Work (NACSW).
All of this prompted me to go to the University of Michigan, where I’m pursuing a Master of Social Work in Social Policy and Evaluation at the number 1 program in the country. I start classes in the Fall with a concentration on macro work and an internship at the Community Mental Health Partnership of Southeast Michigan. After my Masters, I’m hoping to go into administrative work doing program evaluation, possibly in the area of community building. I would love to help rejuvenate communities in lower income neighborhoods.