News Archive
Alumni
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On November 5, 2024, Danny Hang, MSW ’11, the son of refugees from the Vietnam War who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California, won his first election to public office. As a new member of the West Hollywood City Council, he is proud to represent the Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community as one of the only members of color. The inspiration to mount a political campaign, Hang says, began with his educational experience at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.
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In early 2022, Valeria Iniesta-Guzman, MSN ’23, was placed with a street medicine mobile unit providing care for the homeless population in Santa Ana, California. It was one of her clinical internship requirements for the Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) program at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.
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For college student athletes, realizing your dream of playing at an elite level and all the pressures that come with it can take a toll. Approximately a third of collegiate athletes experience depression or anxiety, while suicide rates among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) athletes have doubled since 2002.
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When you are a former foster youth, you have spent most of your childhood trying to beat the odds stacked against you. Those who are lucky enough to find the support of caring adults can be inspired to pay that forward to the next generation. Such is the experience of two alumnae of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work classmates and members of the Trojan Guardian Scholars, whose childhood trajectories followed a similar path and led to their career choice working with children.
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Exercise and team sports have been proven to provide clear mental health benefits according to numerous studies. For some athletes who reach an elite level, sports can also be an opportunity to gain an educational scholarship and degree, or help lift their families out of poverty. Yet, despite these benefits, elite collegiate athletes display higher risk for anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation than their peers.
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Since her transition in the late 1980s, Christina Munguia, MSW ’21, lived very privately as a transgender woman. When she decided to apply to the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, the admissions requirements included the composition of an essay on why she wanted to become a social worker. In that moment, she decided to speak openly about who she was for the first time — a woman of transgender experience and refugee of war from El Salvador.
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In September 2023, nine weeks before he was due to complete the requirements for a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree at USC, Benjamin Roach, MSW ’24, lost his father. Over the previous four years, his father had been living with progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare, Parkinson-plus syndrome that affects body movements such as walking, balance and eye function. In 2019, Roach and his older sister became the medical and financial power of attorney for their father.
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Since she was 15 years old, Mayra Zaragoza, MSW ’24, has been helping youth find connection and a sense of belonging. Born and raised in the North San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, where gang life was prevalent within her community and in her own family, she is now a graduate of the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work.
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In 2016, Oludara Adeeyo, MSW’19, embarked on a major life change to heal herself from traumatic experiences, and regain a sense of optimism for what she could offer to the world. Now, she is helping other Black women to do the same.
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Richard Kluckow, DSW ’18, made a trip to Washington, D.C. with his family during the final semester of his doctoral studies at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. It was the first time he visited the capitol since his eighth-grade class took a field trip, and the energy of the city excited him. He sensed that important things were happening and there were opportunities to make an impact on the world. In 2020, Kluckow landed a position with the U.S.