For Emily Jones, it was love at first sight: a snowy day in Storrs on her first visit to UConn from her native New Jersey made for the picture-perfect collegiate image. But she quickly learned that UConn is more than meets the eye: her commitment to the deaf community helped steer her toward a course of study in social work, and the University was an ideal environment for someone learning the ins and outs of the field. Her next step is a Master’s in Social Work, and the continued pursuit of equity and support for all.<\/p>\n
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Why did you choose UConn?<\/strong> What\u2019s your major or field of study, and what drew you to it?<\/strong> Did you have a favorite professor or class?<\/strong> What activities were you involved in as a student?<\/strong> What are your plans after graduation\/receiving your degree?<\/strong> How has UConn prepared you for the next chapter in life?<\/strong> Any advice for incoming students?<\/strong> What\u2019s one thing everyone should do during their time at UConn?<\/strong> Emily Jones reflects on her time at UConn<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":212188,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"quote","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-212187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-quote","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","post_format-post-format-quote"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-10 07:54:41","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212187"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212187\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213391,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212187\/revisions\/213391"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/212188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212187"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=212187"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=212187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nI\u2019ve wanted to live in New England since I was a kid (I\u2019m originally from New Jersey). It snowed on my first visit to UConn, and I couldn\u2019t get over how beautiful the campus was. I fell in love with UConn right away. It was everything I thought college would look like. I also knew it would be a great academic fit for me and what I was looking for. It was the best of both worlds!<\/p>\n
\nI majored in social work at UConn, since I\u2019ve always loved being around and talking to people. I have strong ties to the deaf community. Seeing the needs of that community inspired me to pick social work as a major. The deaf community is a population that is consistently overlooked, yet they still remain strong and resilient. That\u2019s something I really admire about them, and I wanted to utilize my skills to their maximum potential to serve them. This desire eventually led me to social work.<\/p>\n
\nMy SOWK 3000 course with Milagros Marrero-Johnson is always one that sticks out to me when I reflect on my time at UConn. She explained and framed social justice issues in a way that made me rethink and reevaluate everything I thought I knew. I feel like I gained a lot of really valuable knowledge and skills from her.<\/p>\n
\nI was on the women\u2019s rowing team on the Storrs campus, and I was also president of the American Sign Language club for two years.<\/p>\n
\nI am planning on working toward my Master’s in Social Work next year! I am also part of the CT LEND program that works with individuals with disabilities.<\/p>\n
\nThe connections to resources and people in the community is something that I think makes UConn extra special. I\u2019ve gotten a lot of great experiences and opportunities through connections that professors or advisors have set up for me. I feel a lot more confident in my path and what my future looks like because those people were willing to reach out and help me.<\/p>\n
\nTake time to slow down and appreciate where you are. Five years ago, I wanted nothing more than to go to college and in a blink of an eye it\u2019s almost over. Take every opportunity to be grateful and embrace your support networks if you are struggling.<\/p>\n
\nGo to the Dairy Bar and sit on Horsebarn Hill on the Storrs campus with friends. Some of my best memories from college came from those experiences!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"