Aliyah Henry

UConn School of Social Work, Class of 2019

I was born in Queens, New York and raised in East Hartford, CT. I currently have a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology.

I participated as a volunteer in a program called SEE (Summer Enrichment Experience) for elementary students in New Britain. The students came from urban communities and had issues such as financial struggles and personal issues within their families. I also participated in research for a professor to find out if the program was helping students stay interested in school despite their life situations. Unfortunately, many of the students expressed that they did not feel any more interested in school and some even less. It shows that it is important to provide for urban communities to increase their well-being.

I plan to become a medical social worker and therefore see this program as an opportunity to expand my skills in working with clients who will be in need of medical services. It is also important to me to see the perspective of medical practitioners so I can understand what they would need from me as a social worker and what I would need from them as medical practitioners. It is important to participate with one another in a way that most benefits the client. Considering the crisis that healthcare access for urban communities is currently in, it is even more crucial to develop the most appropriate approach to help clients.