AJ Stevens ’20, ’27 MSW

I joined the Valpo MSW program because I’ve always had a passion for social justice and helping others. My bachelor’s degree is in Social Justice Studies, so returning to school for a Master’s in social work felt like a natural progression of one of my passions. My hope is to work with groups and organizations, or at the policy level of social work, and this program is already preparing me to do that. I am learning about human behavior, both on the individual and group level, policy, as well as the important work of DEI.

I am excited about the MSW program, both because of how it aligns with my own interests, but also because of how I can learn from others. My classmate in our cohort of two wants to work with individuals, while I want to work with larger groups and organizations–Valpo’s offering of multiple tracks through social work gives us the chance to learn about what we are passionate about, but also to learn from each other and understand the different sides of the field.

The social work department has been so encouraging and welcoming, from my professors and advisor, but also from professors and staff that I haven’t taken classes from yet. Everyone seems so excited about the start of this program which makes it even better to be learning from them.