Marcy Nyachogo于1月份加入Bryn Mawr，担任社会工作和社会研究研究生院的学生和就业服务主任. 在她的工作人员聚光灯下，Nyachogo讨论了她在大学的职业背景和角色.
你能告诉我一些你在加入gsssr之前的职业和教育背景吗?
本科期间，我在一个为无证青年服务的课外项目工作. 有很多来自墨西哥和中美洲的家庭住在这个地区，他们的资源非常匮乏. 我还做了一些社区组织工作，帮助项目中孩子的妈妈们争取项目的持续资助，因为我们不确定它是否会继续得到资助. I was really drawn to this work and my mom told me, “Did you know that social work is a thing you could have a job for?” So, I went to Penn for grad school simply because, at the time, I didn't know how great Bryn Mawr was. During my first year, I interned at a community health center in West Philly, and my second-year internship was at Congreso de Latinos Unidos in their Domestic Violence Program.
我毕业后的第一份工作是在爱因斯坦医院做医学倡导者 Lutheran Settlement House, which is one of the domestic violence organizations in the city. 我在那里工作了大约10年，在那个组织里担任不同的领导职务. By the time I left, I was the program director for the domestic violence program, 这让我来到了布林莫尔，因为我真的很想接触一种不同类型的工作. I had been in DV services for a really long time, and while it’s important work, it’s also very taxing emotionally, and ascending in leadership so quickly was a lot to manage. During my time at Lutheran Settlement House, I supervised MSW students, 我很喜欢和学生们一起工作，在这个阶段，他们正在定义自己作为一名社会工作者的身份，并走向世界. 当我看到布林莫尔大学学生和就业服务中心主任的空缺职位时，我很兴奋，因为我有更多的机会这样做.
What skills do you bring from your work in DV to your current role?
实际上，家庭暴力方面的工作和我现在支持学生的工作有很多重叠之处. In domestic violence work, a fundamental belief is that the survivor drives the bus, and as a social worker, you’re there to kind of be like a co-pilot, 但也要支持他们，加入他们的团队，帮助他们取得成功，无论他们怎么想. 我把这种方法运用到我现在如何通过职业指导甚至写作指导来支持我们的学生. I really enjoy being a partner alongside students, and not deciding what I think is best for them, 而是倾听并帮助学生思考他们想从自己的职业生涯或某门课中得到什么, and being a source of support that walks that journey with them. 这是我的天性，我很高兴它似乎引起了人们的共鸣.
It sounds like you wear many hats in this role. What's a typical day like for you?
Every day is different. My favorite part of the day is when I have my student meetings. 我通常一天会有两到三个学生会议，学生们会带着各种各样的目标或问题来找我. Sometimes, students are looking for general career guidance. Other times, it’s folks who are struggling with grad school in general. 我甚至还会见了一些一年级学生，他们正在考虑二年级的安排，希望在求职过程中具有战略眼光. 我担任联络员的角色，了解学生面临的挑战，以及可以为他们提供什么样的支持. There's so much support here at the GSSWSR for students, but sometimes, when students are struggling, they self-isolate because they’re just trying to get through it. And I think, especially with the semester structure, it sort of lends itself to this belief that I hear so often of, “It'll be fine. 接下来的三周我会坚持下去，一切都会好起来的.所以，我可以在这个空间里与人见面，问他们:“如果不好怎么办?? What if things don't radically change because you have four days off?“我真的很享受与学生见面并认识他们的时光, especially being new to the community. 人们非常慷慨地分享他们的故事和他们的挣扎，我认为能成为那个角色的人是一种荣幸.
我也做了很多活动策划，为学生创造联系和学习的机会. 我与学生和就业服务办公室的团队一起策划活动，为学生提供相互联系的机会. 我们会组织各种信息会议，邀请演讲者，策划电影活动，诸如此类的事情. I'm also fortunate to do some committee work at a larger level. 我在本科学院的一个跨学科小组工作, 这是关于Bryn Mawr如何实现我们的价值观，以及我们可以为学生提供什么样的课程，以提供我们渴望的方式学习和成长的机会. I really like that work, too, 因为它让我了解了整个布林茅尔社区正在发生的事情.
What do you like to do in your free time?
I love going for a swim at Bryn Mawr’s gym. I have two little ones, so what is free time, really? We spend a lot of time playing, 每天晚饭后，我们都会在我家附近的狗公园散步，和狗狗一起玩耍. I have a really robust family and friends support network. 我是一个非常外向的人，所以我的大部分空闲时间都是和别人在一起. I also like to watch reality TV. 一天下来，等孩子们都睡着了，那就是我要看的.
It's great that you're trying to bring people together at the school. As busy students, 我认为我们中的许多人只是在走过场，试图通过这个项目, 但是，在我们这里的时间里，社区聚会和与他人建立联系是非常重要的.
I felt the exact same way when I was in social work school. You know when you're like, “If I was in high school, knowing what I know now, this is how I would have showed up differently,”? I get to actually do that in this role. 我会对学生们说:“我知道你们以为来这里只是为了上课，然后离开. But guess what? You're actually going to stay to talk about Barbie.” We had an opportunity recently where Dr. Nataliia Gusak shared a film called Our American Family and it was just the most powerful documentary. There were probably like 10 of us there, and once the documentary ended, 人们很自然地开始围成一群，分享他们的反应，以及他们将如何离开这次经历. That, to me, is just such a natural thing where when you choose to engage, you find that other people also need and want that, and people naturally end up circled up. 作为一名社工，还有什么比觉得自己并不孤单更能治愈心灵的呢?
I prioritize creating opportunities for people to connect in a natural way, in whatever way that looks like for them. Maybe your thing isn’t the Barbie movie, which, by the way, it should be. 也许你的事情是关于应对机制的讨论，或者是一个招聘会或社交活动. Looking ahead to next year, 我想考虑一些能吸引我们内向的朋友的节目, like having a craft corner. We have some folks that could teach other people how to knit and crochet. 还有一个社区伙伴对和我们一起做园艺很感兴趣. 我想开发不同的机会，创造一个人们可以联系的环境. It's still up to students if they want to connect, but let's figure out how to set the table for people to do that.