by Laurie Anderson | Aug. 31, 2020
“I was always told you get out of college what you put into it,” says Grace Gilbert (BSW ’21). She takes that advice seriously. The senior is president of UGA’s chapter of Gamma Sigma Sigma, a national service sorority, and a three-year veteran of Road Dawgs. Gilbert says the college recruitment program, aimed at high school students around Georgia, helped solidify her desire to engage in community work.
Undaunted by social distancing challenges, Gilbert intends to pursue her MSW after graduation with the goal of becoming a medical social worker. She currently takes 17 credit hours, serves as an intern at Court-Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) through Children First, and juggles two jobs “to make ends meet.”
“I benefited incredibly from the emergency relief fund that students were able to apply for during the COVID,” she said. “That fund was the only way I was able to pay my rent.”
This summer Gilbert also was selected as one of three student representatives on UGA’s new Planning Committee on Diversity and Inclusive Excellence. The 21-person committee of administrators, faculty and students will develop a comprehensive diversity and inclusion plan that builds on the university’s current plan.
“The recent social justice movements and pandemic have opened my eyes to many different ways to be involved from home that I had never imagined,” says Gilbert. “We have had to adjust the way we receive and share information…But I believe it will make current students more adaptable and able to handle the challenges that will continue to come.”
