STUDENT ORGANIZATION SPOTLIGHT: Social Work
By: Dana Peterson
For this Student Organization Spotlight, I interviewed Conner Pool, the Social Work Organization President. The Social Work Organization was created by and is made up of social work majors on campus. This organization is known for events like Empty Bowls, the Urban Trip, and Night Without a Home.
In terms of what the Social Work Organization does on campus, they place a heavy emphasis on helping students within the major gain field experience and networking opportunities. The trips and events that they host allow students to gain a great deal of knowledge and experience. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, on-campus events have been slower, but they are looking to get more involved on campus once again while also looking for volunteers and donations from the campus community.
One event that they host annually is called Empty Bowls. Empty Bowls is essentially a fundraiser for the PATH Center. This is an event in which a local community member makes bowls; the Social Work Organization buys and then sells them. When you buy a bowl, you are buying a meal for yourself, while also supporting the PATH Center.
Another event they host is the Urban Trip. This trip is for members of the Social Work Organization to visit big cities in the Midwest. Last year, they visited Chicago. This allowed students to experience a different culture than the one we are used to in Northwest Ohio. While on this trip, they visited a Latino Women’s Center, an LGBTQ+ Center, and more. This allows our future social workers to see what working in the field is like, and opens their ideas to opportunities in different places.
In Conner’s personal experience, he originally started at Defiance College as a psychology major but switched to social work after seeing the opportunities available in the field. He looked into social work with the help of Professor Salisbury and ended up discovering that the field was a great fit for him. He said that his favorite part about the club is the “interactions and networking opportunities” that it provides to social work students. He also talked about his personal experience on the Urban Trip to Chicago and said it was lots of fun; from lake effect snow to deep dish pizza, going on this trip was a great experience that he would not have had without his involvement with the Social Work Organization here on campus.
Again, this organization is almost exclusively for social work majors, but there are plenty of opportunities to help. They are currently accepting both donations and volunteers to help with the Empty Bowls project.
If you are interested in more information about the Social Work Organization or interested in getting some volunteer hours with them, Student Organization President, Conner Pool, is available for contact at cpool001@defiance.edu; as well as the advisor, Professor Tess Salisbury, at tsalisbury@defiance.edu.
