Global Posts

For my internship, I was able to find an organization that aligned perfectly with what I wanted for my future. With that being said, I have completed 120 total hours at StepStone Family and Youth Services. My major is Sociology with a double minor in Psychology and Criminal Justice. I have a concentration in family studies. After graduating from Longwood University, I plan to work as a case manager for foster care and eventually become a forensic interviewer. This organization is a great way for me to get my foot in the door. Many of the people I work with come from all different backgrounds with different work experiences. The knowledge I receive from their experiences is something I will always remember. StepStone has two programs: independent living program and foster care program. I am working in the Harriosnburg, Va and Richmond, Va offices to collect the most amount of experiences possible with my short amount of time here. 
In the independent living program this is for 18-21 year olds who have aged out of foster care but are still in need of guidance. In this program there is a unique approach to teaching independent living skills including traditional classroom instruction and hands-on, skill-based training such as; budgeting, social skills, cooking, job applications, etc. The client in the independent living program must be enrolled in a high school or equivalency program or enrolled in college or a post-secondary education vocational program or participating in a program actively designed to promote or remove barriers to employment or working at least 80 hours a month or medically incapable if engaging in these activities There are strict requirement when it comes to what qualifies the youth to be able to be in the program. The client is provided with an apartment, grocery shopping budget, and required to have a steady job with at least 20 hours a week. Clients are advised to pursue their GED, drivers license, and independence before being released on their own or with family at 21 years of age. In the foster care program, things are much different. This program is for newborns to 18 years of age. Before a child can be placed into a home a background check is conducted on foster families including pictures of their houses, certification, compliance, people, home file, family web, and general information about the foster parent/parents. Home visits, social history, annual report, service plan, biological family sheet, magellan, therapy/counseling sessions are all documented and every small detail is important. An updated picture is captured at every annual visit to keep up to date on how the child is growing and developing. The main goal is to return the child to their biological parents if the biological parents are fit for parenting, financially stable, pass alcohol and drug screenings,etc.
The main difference that I have noticed while interning with both programs is with the independent living due to their age it is difficult to enforce the rules while maintaining their goals. Most clients will stop taking their medications or cleaning themselves or areas due to the sense of freedom to make their own choices. I would say the hardest part of the independent living program is that since they are over the age of eighteen advice can only be given. To see someone struggle with past traumas, or diagnosis they need to be medicated for, or their ability to be able to excel in school but not want to do it for themselves can be frustrating. My supervisor kept using the quote, “you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink”. This resonated with me because even though you have the possible solutions at hand for these clients they have the choice on what they want to do at the end of the day. . The hardest part of the foster care program was my first day at this facility. I was able to read through case files and read each individual child’s story and social history. This was not easy to read due to the amount of shocking things I had ever heard people do in movies or in the news. It is a different feeling when you are actually seeing a photograph of these children and reading what has happened to them in their short amount of time here on earth. The work here is tidenous and needs close attention to detail to ensure the success and safety of the children. 
I was able to get hands-on experience through StepStone in both programs. In the independent living program I was able to connect with clients by helping them organize, study, and do everyday tasks appropriate for their own success. During my time sitting in on the DSS 90-Day review I collected a lot of information about what could be beneficial or harmful to this client. I created a food inventory list to cut down on hoarding of products, looked into Casey Life Skills activities to promote studying and passing GED tests. The client was able to achieve some of their goals during my time in the office. In the foster care program, I was able to attend court cases and listen to hearings that did not always have the outcome most were hoping for.. I was also able to attend home visits and check-ins. This was a very interesting experience because the foster parent had five children they were looking over. This was different compared to a home that only has one or two children placed due to the mixing of personalities and ages of the children. These were both eye opening experiences because although looking at the case files and reading the children’s stories was great, meeting and seeing them in person was a very different experience. My roles during my time spent at StepStone vary but what does not change is how attention to minor details are important. I was able to look into the online system at different clients to learn more about their experiences, goals, and personalities. I learned many skills while interning but some important ones I would like to mention are: writing a home visit case report, writing a court hearing case report, developing activities to achieve clients goals, learning an online system with little guidance, and time management while traveling longer distances I needed to prepare in advance for my travels. I was able to create flyers to educate and spread awareness about the independent living program that is provided for those aging out of foster care. 
My time spent at StepStone Family and Youth Services taught me a lot about myself and the world around me. I am now able to understand fully the amount of time, dedication, and hardship that goes into this field of work. It takes a certain kind of individual to succeed and I believe through my experiences at StepStone I can confidently say I have what it takes for my future career. This can be a difficult field to work in so having the ability to separate work and home is essential. Many children within the system struggle emotionally, physically, and struggle with issues of trust. This can be a hardship within this field of work due to the nature of mental stability that is needed. I would highly recommend before entering this field that you obtain a supportive boss, co workers, and healthy environment to work in. Patience and understanding is key to succeeding.  I loved my internship because I was able to watch young adults and children set goals and reach to achieve them. Children were able to be reunited with their biological parents, some were able to be adopted by great and loving families. Young adults were able to make big decisions to prepare for life after the independent living program. It was an amazing experience to see them all grow and change over the almost two months. I learned that this job can be challenging but rewarding. It is important not to carry emotions home or let them reflect onto the clients because this could impact their life significantly. I now understand the importance of picking up every small detail to put into their case file because one sentence or one word could make a huge difference in someone’s life. Sitting in a classroom and learning about these things is amazing but being able to experience what you are interested in through real experience is very different. Throughout my time here, I learned that life can be difficult but someone else is struggling way more than I am. Again, this was eye opening and this internship was an amazing experience for me and made me excited for my future and all the possibilities to come after graduation. 

Welcome to my internship journey!

Rain notwithstanding, 2024 Commencement and the other events surrounding it were full of celebration, pride and more than a few happy tears.

For those of you whose students will graduate in the next few years, here’s a preview of what you have to look forward to.

For those of you whose students received their Longwood degrees this past weekend, congratulations on your Lancers’ accomplishments! As the parent of a college graduate myself, I know that you played no small part in getting them to that culminating moment. Even though it’s only been a week, it’s never too soon to relive such a happy occasion!

Undergraduate Commencement, Joan Perry Brock Center
https://www.facebook.com/LongwoodUniversity/posts/pfbid02UuxrjdmnpUBRs7rGd9ZBWYAboCqy2hhXmNGHkLQZio5PUsi4TQqemqYY3G2K9f5Zl

Undergraduate Commencement Video
https://www.facebook.com/LongwoodUniversity/videos/788644320028419/

Graduate Commencement, Joan Perry Brock Center
https://www.facebook.com/LongwoodUniversity/posts/pfbid0uWaPnJmuYbbtYTFLvKv919GQcsqa8wEHTBpx1cgbkgx82Ywbg6kyL47LWZkSa4YFl 

Princeps Secret Society Reveal
https://www.facebook.com/LongwoodUniversity/posts/pfbid033TYw8YcSmCB4xExVKzcbdVCw5kBi98aERehGajGtdLFpoVdJ4FZ6Z7dRdthQCZedl
(Find out more about Princeps at www.go.longwood.edu/princeps )

Nursing Pinning Ceremony
https://www.facebook.com/LongwoodUniversity/posts/pfbid02yGXMjaF1srZ6KrL4rgdfjKYJUNU7eA5QM8rKopn56LajqWADnb7c9DA5qrvG1wul

Diploma Signing Ceremony
President Reveley and the rector of the Board of Visitors personally sign the diplomas of selected student leaders each year.
https://www.facebook.com/LongwoodUniversity/posts/pfbid02BKwZLiYmrEJdU15yWvDWbzcpEkHCdRMKK84hHkk1WEyBfj6e1RjYG6j1WYa6iSqWl

—Sabrina Brown

Ahem… Hi!

My name is Sammy Cake. My pronouns are she/they, I am a rising junior at Longwood University (in the lovely town of Farmville, Virginia), and I am a Sociology major with a double-minor in Women’s, Sexuality, and Gender Studies and Race and Ethnic Studies.

I grew up in an upper-middle class suburb just outside of Richmond, Virginia with one brother and two step-siblings (a sister and a brother) on a street where my divorced parents happily reside two houses apart from one another. I’m white, I’m cis, I’m queer, I’ve thru-hiked the Appalachian and Long Trails, and every day I try to make a little bit of progress towards my ultimate goal of becoming an active anti-racist change agent in my community.

This coming semester (the fall of 2024) I will have the privilege of participating in a comparative study abroad program with the School for International Training. This program focuses on human rights, and it aims to help students develop a deep, multilayered understanding of how communities and individuals are giving momentum to grassroots human rights movements across the countries of Nepal, Jordan, Chile, and America. Along with my peers, I will compare and contrast cross-cultural systems of government, social distributions of power, social divisions of labor, social hierarchies, the role and presence of welfare states, political freedom and oppression, definitions of human rights, and the emergence, progression, and goals of social movements.

So, why this program? Why choose to embark on this kind of social, physical, spiritual, and emotional journey? I think it’s really, really important for me to do this. Like, as important as it was for me to set out alone at 18 to walk 2,200 miles from Georgia to Maine. Unlike my trek on the A.T, however, this program is about far more than personal ambition. In many ways, I view my participation in this opportunity as my first big step towards the rest of my life- after all, how can I possibly aspire to make the world more equal and just if I do not have a comprehensive understanding of the ongoing struggles for equality and justice that surround me on all sides, locally and globally?

I believe strongly that nothing on this planet happens within a vacuum, especially when it comes to protest, prejudice, and policy (and history has proven that to be true, time and time again). It’s important for me, as a born-with-a-silver-spoon-raised-in-a-liberal-echo-chamber-crunchy-granola-queer-feminist-American-college-student-with-big-dreams kind of gal to participate in this program so that I know how to listen to the voices of those whose lives are very different from my own, so that I know how to incorporate those voices into my current and future activism, and so that I can do more to change America to value humanity in all it’s forms.

If you’re interested in following my journey, this blog is where I’ll detail and reflect on my experiences, thoughts, questions, and ideas regarding human rights, social justice, power, and privilege as they arise during my time abroad. Please feel free to reach out if you have any feedback on the content I create- I am always open to having a discussion. Thanks for your time!

Here’s my Instagram handle for more pictures and updates: @a.sociologist.abroad

Here’s where you can learn more about the Appalachian Trail and long-distance hiking in America! : https://appalachiantrail.org/explore/hike-the-a-t/

SAVE THE DATE – AUGUST 15, 2024

CAFE, Civitae, Cormier Honors College, DEC, and the Preparing for Post Graduate Success Initiative invite you to Longwood’s second annual day of undergraduate faculty professional development–a day filled with several options and opportunities to collaborate with and learn from your faculty colleagues.

Civitae           
Engage with other Civitae faculty and find out what’s happening in your category and hear the Civitae faculty leaders share some assessment results. 

Preparing for Post Graduate Success Initiative
Design an advising syllabus.

DEC
Eat lunch and learn how your colleagues are using and navigating AI in the learning environment

The Cormier Honors College
Transform your existing courses into Honors courses.

CAFE
Participate in course and assignment design work sessions with consultants.

CLOSING RECEPTION
Kick off the semester and reconnect with colleagues at the faculty reception. 

Registration and program information are coming soon!

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this post is worth nearly 100,000 words! (Maybe I should have been a photographer instead of a writer.)

Of course, there was a whole lot of studying going on this semester—but also a whole lot of fun. Take a stroll through this album of nearly 100 photos, and you’ll get a sense of what the lighter side of spring semester is like here at Longwood.

And, if you’re lucky, you’ll catch a glimpse of your Lancer living their best life.

—Sabrina Brown

Late-Night Breakfast

Faculty and staff serve up bacon, eggs and much more to help students fuel up for finals week.

Mosaic Multicultural Gala

This event celebrates Longwood’s diversity and culture.

CHI Burning

CHI is Longwood’s oldest service organization. At the CHI Burning, special commendations are given to students, organizations, faculty and staff who have made outstanding contributions of their time and talent.

Study Paws

A welcome break during the last week of classes comes in the form of four-legged critters, including a miniature horse.

Spring Weekend

Beautiful spring weather was the backdrop for an epic day of booths, bands and Oozeball.

Greek Sync

From the hits of the ’70s to house music of the 2010s, our Greeks know how to put on a show. Check out some of their moves at Greek Sync.

Solar Eclipse

The whole campus turned out to marvel at this rare event.

Ring Ceremony

Students and their families participate in a special ceremony where students receive their class rings.

The purpose of the project is to inform people on ways to deal with and help individuals who are dealing with elder and disabled persons self neglect. Self neglect is common in this demographic of individuals and we used this to show how to look at potential risk factors and other things which may effect these individuals. The target audience is the families of these individuals as well as the nurses taking care of them. I could have better improved some of the ways I explained the issues at hand but we did well on explaining risk factors which are felt with in these situations. 

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1OjbHV-Sb9942c36XqAIhANB7JfTCMw3fagWTXQk68q0/edit?usp=sharing 

The key competencies which enhanced my learning were career and self development, critical thinking, equity and inclusion, professionalism, teamwork, and technology. I used this project to look at what I want my career to be and how I can deal with these issues in the future. This project as well helped me with thinking about things deeper than I normally would as well as looking at how to treat other individuals in these situations and including everyone. Professionalism, teamwork, and technology all work together in how I am going to use them in the future. Working with a team showed me how to properly do this as well as how to better use technology in these situations.

Welcome to my E-Portfolio! My name is Skylar Therres. I am currently a senior at Longwood University, majoring in Sociology with a concentration on Family Studies and minoring in Psychology and Criminal Justice. What do I plan on doing with my degree? I plan to go into Counseling for my future career. In my E-Portfolio, you will find work and research I’ve conducted thus far in my college career.

I participated in an adverse childhood experience training and am now certified in administering naloxone.