Bachelor of Social Work

Social work education and practicum lead to life‑changing client outcomes

Taylor Thomas — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 13:22:42 +0000

Social work education and practicum lead to life‑changing client outcomes Taylor Thomas Thu, 04/30/2026 - 09:22

Key Takeaways:

First-generation George Mason social work student Evelyn Carcamo is graduating after six years of balancing work, parenting, and school.
Through her practicum at Ayuda, she connects immigrants and refugee survivors with resources
Carcamo plans to pursue a master’s in social work and become a licensed clinical social worker serving underserved communities.

At the local nonprofit Ayuda, one client came to Evelyn Carcamo overwhelmed. With limited access to food and no clear way to get health care, he wasn’t sure how to provide for his family.

Carcamo, a social work student at 91��'s College of Public Health, helped him sort through his options. She connected him to food assistance and walked him through applying for Medicaid, linking him to medical and mental health services.

Evelyn Carcamo. Photo provided.

Over time, she saw a shift in the way he engaged. “He became more confident, more comfortable asking questions, and more involved in planning next steps for himself,” she said.

Carcamo is completing her practicum at Ayuda as part of her bachelor’s degree program at George Mason, conducting intakes and needs assessments for survivors of domestic violence, human trafficking, sexual assault, and other crimes. Many of her clients are immigrants and refugees navigating systems that feel unfamiliar and intimidating to them.

“They’re high-need clients,” she said. “But it's very rewarding.”

It’s work she recognizes on a personal level. Carcamo grew up watching her parents, who came to the United States from El Salvador before she was born, teach themselves English and wade through resources without guidance.

In May, Carcamo will graduate as a first-generation college student. She wants to continue her work serving immigrant and underserved communities as a clinical social worker, with plans to start George Mason’s master of social work program next fall.

Shifting goals

For Carcamo, a career in social work marks a shift years in the making.

Growing up in Arlington, Virginia, Carcamo never saw higher education as a given. High school graduation was the milestone. After earning her diploma, she went straight into the workforce as a medical assistant and, at 25, gave birth to her son.

For three years at Mason and Partners Clinic, Carcamo served as an interpreter for largely uninsured, Spanish-speaking patients. Many of them revealed more than their symptoms.

“People would tell me their whole story,” she said. “And then they’d leave, and I’d still think about them, like, ‘Oh, I wonder if they got that resource they needed.’”

Moments like that changed how she thought about helping people. “That’s how I started to realize I wanted to do something beyond medical,” she said. “I wanted to make a difference in another way.”

At the same time, she’d hit a ceiling in her career. “I realized I had to go back to school or I wasn’t going to move forward,” she said.

Carcamo first enrolled at Northern Virginia Community College, then transferred to 91�� through the ADVANCE Program.

“As a medical assistant, I was very task-focused and centered on immediate physical needs,” Carcamo said. “Now, I take a more holistic and trauma-informed approach. I spend more time listening, building trust, and understanding each client’s lived experience. This shift has made my work feel more meaningful and more connected to the people I serve.”

Her coursework at George Mason has helped her appreciate more fully what her clients are up against. “They’re not just dealing with individual challenges, but also bigger systemic issues like language access, immigration concerns, and financial stress,” she said.

Finding her place

While raising her son, now 9 years old, on her own., Carcamo has earned Dean’s List recognition and received the Rose Rago Braddock Endowed Scholarship, awarded based on merit and financial need.

“It’s been overwhelming sometimes,” she said. “I have to make sure my job is flexible. I have to make sure I get my assignments turned in on time. I have to make sure I make it to practicum and get my hours. I have to be at my son’s events and make sure he’s well taken care of.”

She’s steadied herself by focusing on the long view. “It’s just temporary,” she would repeat. “The finish line is almost there.”

After six years of balancing work, parenting, and school at George Mason, Carcamo is now just weeks away from graduating. And her younger sister, now at Virginia Commonwealth University, is also hoping to pursue social work, following a path Carcamo helped clear.

"I always tell her, get it done now," Carcamo said. "It will be so much easier than what I did. If I can show her it's possible, that means everything to me.”

Topics

Bachelor of Social Work

CPH - Social Work

social work students

Social Work

Social Work Education

This veteran’s advice for her fellow former service members considering George Mason? Do it!

Taylor Thomas — Thu, 06 Nov 2025 14:06:19 +0000

This veteran’s advice for her fellow former service members considering George Mason? Do it! Taylor Thomas Thu, 11/06/2025 - 09:06

The Wizard of Oz’s Dorothy Gale said it first: “There’s no place like home.” Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) student Becca Simon, a veteran of the U.S. Navy, has no doubt she’s found her home in the College of Public Health at 91��.

Navy veteran and Bachelor of Social Work student Becca Simon. Photo provided.

“Coming out of the military, you leave one community, and you don't really know where to go from there, and it can feel very isolating and very lonely. To make new connections with people can be terrifying. And instead, I found a home in a community. I would venture to say that it's been life-changing,” said Simon.

Simon describes the transition from military to civilian as challenging, but with support from the Office of Military Services, says George Mason’s unparalleled dedication to veterans deserves its ranking as a top university for veterans in the country.

“I don't think I spoke to anybody in [the Office of Military Services] that wasn't helpful or willing to find answers if they didn't know. They’re up to date on things with Veterans Affairs, and just being so welcoming about coming out from the military and becoming a full-time student,” she said. “New things can be scary and confusing and overwhelming, and they definitely made it easy for me to understand what was required of me, the documents that we needed, and just made the application process much smoother.”

During her time in the Navy, Simon worked as a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate, where she regularly interacted with social workers. When searching for where to get her education, she wanted an institution that aligned with her admiration for how social workers approach mental health, conflict resolution, and addressing trauma.

“Most of those people that I admired were social workers, so I started, you know, really asking myself, well, what did I want to do. What direction did I want to go in? Many of the survivor advocates were social workers, and it ignited something that made me think, ‘I wanna do more with this when I get out of the military.’ It’s amazing to be surrounded by people who want to be social workers, who are passionate about the future of social work in this country,” Simon said, who intends to pursue her Master of Social Work here at the college after completing her BSW in 2027.

When asked who her favorite instructor has been so far, Simon explained there was no way to choose. “I adore them all,” she said. “There’s something about each and every one that is my favorite. They're all just incredible human beings and incredible at what they do.”

Simon has very straightforward advice for her fellow veterans considering George Mason. Two words: Do it!

“You will find your place here, you'll find a home here, you'll find where you belong.”

Topics

Veterans

Office of Military Services

Department of Social Work

social work students

Bachelor of Social Work

Students

In the George

She honed her research and counseling skills at Mason

sbrown79 — Wed, 10 May 2023 20:09:22 +0000

She honed her research and counseling skills at Mason sbrown79 Wed, 05/10/2023 - 16:09

Senior McKenzie Lauber has been involved with research since her freshman year at 91��. A member of the Honors College, she has worked in the College of Public Health’s Social Work Integrative Research Lab, where she has taken on many roles from interviewing study participants to analyzing data as part of the StrongerMemory project.

Social Work student McKenzie Lauber poses in Peterson Hall. Photo by Cristian Torres.

Lauber is graduating from 91�� this month with a bachelor of social work degree and a minor in criminology.

When not in class, this Honors College student has gained real-world social work experience through an internship at Gateway Homes, a nonprofit group home for people diagnosed with severe mental illness, where she conducts daily interventions and runs a group based on coping mechanisms.

She also acted as the external director for Mason Miracle Dance Marathon from August 2021 to May 2022, which included fundraising for Children's National Hospital and engaging the local community. She also spent a little over a year as a virtual reading tutor for 10 to 15 students a week in Baltimore City Public Schools.

What are you most proud of regarding your time at Mason?

I am most proud of being a published co-author on an article about student satisfaction with mentoring opportunities in the Journal of Social Work Education. That was a really monumental moment for me; it allowed me to see the impact I could have through the research I’ve been a part of here at Mason.

How have you surprised yourself at Mason?

I always used to think of myself as studious and not much else, but coming to Mason really expanded my interests and what I thought as possible for myself. While at Mason, I’ve been a part of multiple student groups. I worked in the Social Work Integrative Research Lab for all of my undergrad years, which is a very rare feat. I’m surprised how much I’ve grown over the past four years. I think most importantly I’ve become more confident in my work and my abilities as a budding social worker.

What resources/opportunities did you find at Mason that you don't think you'd be able to find anywhere else?

I don’t think I would have been able to find as many career-building opportunities as I got at Mason anywhere else. Having taken advantage of being able to do research all through undergrad, I can confidently say it has helped me both academically and professionally so much. Mason also has many resources and events for professional growth, which have been extremely helpful to me, exposing me to jobs and career paths that I would have never imagined for myself.

What have you learned outside the classroom?

I have learned so much here at Mason beyond the classroom, specifically from my peers within the Department of Social Work. Everyone that I’ve met in my cohort has so much to offer to our field, and I cannot wait to see what everyone does. We all come from different backgrounds and life experiences, so it’s been really great to be able to hear everyone’s perspectives and learn from each other.

I’ve also learned a lot from my internship at Gateway Homes, which gave me real-world social work experience that allowed me to take what I had learned in my classes out into the field. Completing that internship showed how everything I’ve been taught at Mason fits into the work I will be doing once I graduate.

What impactful professor(s) did you get to work alongside?

I have been fortunate to work alongside so many amazing professors in the Social Work Department, including Emily Ihara and Catherine Tompkins. I have a lot of special memories with each of them, but I think that their confidence in me and my work is honestly what I am the most grateful for. They have given me the opportunity to do things in research that I didn’t even know I was capable of myself. Their support and mentorship have meant the world to me.

What’s next for you?

I got accepted into the Advanced Standing Social Work Program here at Mason, and I am happy to say that I will be coming back here to earn my master's degree and hopefully continue my research work as well.