Ryan McElhose, MSW 鈥�20
Ryan McElhose, MSW 鈥�20, grew up with a nine-word mantra that motivates him to this day: 鈥淐reate opportunities beyond those that are given to you.鈥� That鈥檚 the parental advice he received repeatedly while growing up in a small town in Iowa and internalized over a 25-year life journey that鈥檚 led him to Boston College School of Social Work (BCSSW).
McElhose is pursuing a clinical specialization focused on Health. 鈥淢y goal at BCSSW is to gain the skills, knowledge, and confidence necessary to guide people through tough times, particularly through trauma,鈥� he says. His other interests include decriminalizing HIV, environmental science, and rights for those seeking asylum.
He was working 聽as a public policy fellow for AIDS United in Washington, D.C., when he was accepted to BCSSW. Intent on also joining BCSSW鈥檚 Latinx Leadership Initiative (LLI), McElhose deferred his enrollment for one academic year and moved to Santo Domingo, Ecuador, to improve his Spanish. 鈥淭he LLI is a huge reason why BCSSW stood out for me for graduate school,鈥� he says. 鈥淣o other school I applied to offered as many graduate-level courses in Spanish and seminars focused on the Latinx experience.鈥�
While in Ecuador, McElhose spent six months at , a social-service organization that focuses on community-based health and wellness programs. He supported the foundation鈥檚 medical teams and volunteers working in the Amazon rainforest, including many from U.S. universities, the non-profit Timmy Global Health, and Microsoft. 鈥淚 was impressed with the effectiveness of聽Hombro a Hombro鈥檚 model:聽prioritizing community partnerships to effect change at the local聽level,鈥� he explains. 鈥淚t was important to me to learn from a clinic that strived towards community-centered and led care. This was also a major growing period in my life. It was the first time I was living by myself and in a country that was new to me.鈥�
During his first year at BCSSW, he completed a field placement at the (CJI) at Harvard Law School, supporting the social service needs of people facing misdemeanor allegations in the Roxbury and Dorchester divisions of Boston鈥檚 municipal courts during arraignment and trial proceedings. 鈥淢y internship at CJI actualized the obligations, advantages, and limitations of lawyering and of social work,鈥� explains McElhose.
In his current placement at , he supports both the and the adult outpatient psychiatric unit as a clinical social work intern. 鈥淚 value being a part of a multidisciplinary, multicultural, and multilingual team to provide high-quality patient care,鈥� says McElhose. In advance of his clinical internship, he accepted a full scholarship to attend the United States Conference on AIDS in Washington, D.C., as a health policy scholar through the National Black Gay Men鈥檚 Advocacy Coalition.
McElhose also participates in two graduate assistantships. One is at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he coordinates logistics for a campus-wide innovation challenge that fosters community-betterment projects. The other鈥攁 BCSSW assistantship鈥攕upports the chair of the Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Committee, Professor Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, who is also the associate dean for Faculty Development and Academic Affairs. 鈥淚 was drawn to this role to help improve how diversity is discussed in the classroom, to help refine the BCSSW curriculum, and to enhance the student experience for future cohorts who enroll at Boston College,鈥� he says.
At BCSSW, he co-leads SPECTRUM, a student-interest group for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, asexual, non-binary, gender nonconforming, and pansexual students and allies. SPECTRUM provides community engagement and social action opportunities to help educate the larger social work community about gender and sexual diversity, cisgenderism, and heterosexism and offers a space for students to discuss a variety of intersectional topics.
In what little free time he has, McElhose enjoys playing soccer and running throughout Boston as he trains for races, including 10Ks, half-marathons, and his first full marathon in mid-October, where he placed in the top 100.
McElhose is exploring career possibilities in public policy, clinical social work, and law in advance of his May graduation. While not certain of the exact path he鈥檒l pursue, he鈥檚 eager to see how his future unfolds and aiming to create opportunities beyond those given to him.