In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we took a closer look at the work of three remarkable School of Social Work students, Tatiana Villarreal-Otálora (pictured left), Jana Leigh Woodiwiss MSW’16 (center), and Caelen Javier Contreras BSW’21 (pictured right), their personal journeys and the differences they are striving to make for others.
For all three students, the ability to give back to their communities is an important driver for them.
“There’s a sense of wanting to give back to the communities in which they’re from, and I think this is one way of doing it,” said Dr. Javier Boyas, an associate professor at the School of Social Work. “I think for the most part, at least when I talk to them, it also is really significant for them to be close to home and close to family. A lot of them understand how important family is and it’s important to be able to stay close to family. The rationale is if you can do good work anywhere, why not do it where you have family and support?”
Click HERE to read more about their stories.
