July 30, 2020 Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

Written by Dina Ibdah, Communications Intern                                                                                                         

When the pandemic abruptly put an end to in-person classes for the 2019-2020 academic term, two students of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) program at King’s University College sought a way to gain closure and maintain connection with their classmates. Members of the Social Work Students’ Association, Larissa Emmons ‘20, outgoing president, and Rachel Finch ‘20, 4th year Events Coordinator, have spearheaded a yearbook project for faculty and students. Both recent graduates from the BSW program, Emmons is now heading into the MSW program at King’s and Finch aspires to enter the MSW program after gaining a few years of work experience.

“Our program felt like a family and when the pandemic hit, we didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. In social work we call the end of the working relationship with a client 'termination', and it is a critical component of the work we do. It allows both the clinician and the client to have closure and to reflect on their time together. Since that is an important component to our education and professional work, I wanted to come up with something that would allow us, as students, to have some sort of closure,” says Emmons.

The yearbook contains biographies of students who have chosen to participate, messages from faculty members and administration, a letter from the director, a call-to-action from Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard, a land acknowledgment and more. “I contacted Senator Wanda Thomas Bernard to give us a call-to-action around the Black Lives Matter movement as she was a founding member of the National Association of Black Social Workers,” says Emmons.

The editors say the biggest challenge in putting together the yearbook was gathering information and reaching students during these unprecedented times, which involved a great deal of administrative work. As a way to connect virtually, Emmons and Finch communicated via Facebook and e-mail. Despite their best efforts, some students remained unreachable for biographies, however their names are still mentioned in the yearbook.

The yearbook has been distributed via email to all BSW students and faculty to enjoy.