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Alumni Spotlight: Alyssa and Ben Matz‘20, ‘22 (BSW and MSW)
“If you have a passion for serving others, advocating for all people, or a hunger for social justice- no matter what those things may look like, social work is for you! Both the Roberts Bachelor’s of Social Work and Master’s of Social Work programs set students up for success on whatever path they decide to take.”
Alyssa and Ben found two great loves of their lives at Roberts: each other, and social work. They recently graduated from the Master’s of Social Work program and share their experiences together.
Tell us about yourself!
Ben: Hi, I’m Ben! My wife and I both went to Roberts for our Bachelor's of Social Work (BSW) and graduated in 2020, and we recently graduated from Roberts with our Master's of Social Work (MSW).
I’m a social worker at Exploration Elementary Charter School and Alyssa is the Family Ministry Coordinator at Browncroft Community Church.
How does Roberts inform your current career? What was the most helpful?
Alyssa: Roberts gave me an opportunity to have experiences that furthered my education in areas that I was passionate about.
For example, during my time in undergrad at Roberts, I discovered my passion for church-based social work. Then, in my graduate program, Roberts helped me to create a church-based social work internship, allowing me to explore my passion while giving me excellent educational experience.
Ben: Roberts helped me realize that working with kids in the school system was exactly what I wanted to do. This was crazy to me because when I came into Roberts, I thought that I wanted to work with adults in mental health. Thanks to the opportunities where I got to work with kids, that quickly changed.
What is the best thing about studying your field?
Alyssa: I love the social work field because it is so expansive- you can take what you learn in the social work program and really apply it to work in any setting. A school, a church, private practice, education, non-profit work, the list goes on and on!
If you have a passion for serving others, advocating for all people, or a hunger for social justice- no matter what those things may look like, social work is for you. Both the Roberts Bachelor’s of Social Work and Master’s of Social Work programs set students up for success on whatever path they decide to take.
What course was your favorite and why?
Alyssa: My favorite course was social work settings. I took this course in my second year of my bachelor’s degree.
It was a weekly course, and each class was a field trip to a local social work setting. We got to see the various workplace options there were in the field, and interact with professional social workers doing their jobs each week. It was almost like 14 different mini internships in one course! It was interesting, practical, and so so helpful in the long run!
Ben: My favorite course was actually not really a typical college class, but it was an experience that I will never forget. I was able to earn three credits by participating in a cross culture trip to Israel. It was a two week experience of sightseeing and touring the amazing country of Israel.
On the trip, I learned a lot about myself and got baptized in the Jordan River as a declaration of my faith and to show that I was living my life for Christ with my newfound understanding of what it means to be a Christian.
Who was your favorite professor and why?
Ben: My favorite professor was Dr. Brenda McQuillan. The reason for this is because she was a school social worker for many years and was able to mentor me as I was going to be undertaking that role at Exploration in the next few years.
Dr. McQuillan was my professor online, but she still pulled me aside after class and asked me if I had been taking care of myself. I am still shocked that she was able to see that I was not doing well through a screen even though she had never met me in person! I think this speaks to who she is as a professor and shows how much she cares about her students.
Read our Faculty Spotlight for Dr. McQuillan.
How do you aspire to serve others?
Alyssa: I aspire to serve others by using my MSW degree to continually look for opportunities to love others well. I aspire to be kind, thoughtful, humble, and to always continue growing in understanding and compassion for others. I aspire to fight for social justice, to give voices to the unheard, and to see the unseen in society.
I am compelled by God’s unconditional love towards everyone on earth to love them in the same way. I am so thankful that the career path I chose allows me to do that in both my personal and professional life.
Ben: I aspire to serve others by being the person in their life that loves them the way that Christ loves me. I hope that one day my students reflect back on their teachers in school and think that Mr. Matz was different because of the way that he truly cared about me.
What advice would you give to incoming Adult and Graduate students?
Alyssa: Strive to understand, not to achieve. Understanding is the ultimate achievement in the long run. What is the point of getting perfect scores if you don’t really understand what the assignment was trying to help you learn? It is much better to work slowly with the goal of learning as much as you can in mind rather than just working to complete the program.
Ben: I agree! You’ve got to make learning a priority.
Alyssa and I spent the majority of our masters program seeking the end result of walking across that stage and having our degree. The process is the most important part! The program is rigorous, however, the struggle is what molds us into great social workers.
What academic or professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
Alyssa: I am most proud of my internship experience at Browncroft Community Church as the Congregational Care Intern. I really got to do something I have always dreamed of doing- combining my passion for serving others professionally with my personal conviction that the church can and should be a source of genuine care and tangible help for all people.
As a part of my internship, I was able to intervene with mental health crises, run support groups, offer tangible help to those in need (food, financial help, etc.), and I even developed and taught a crisis care/mental health training program.
Ben: I am most proud of the caseload that I managed as part of my internship. What I did was created a caseload of thirty students at Exploration who I identified as having social, emotional, or behavioral needs. I made them a priority to me and met with them consistently on a weekly basis.
Through my relationship with them I was able to help them reach their social, emotional, behavioral, and academic goals. I’m so proud of them because I knew they could do it the whole time.
Faculty Feedback
“Ben and Alyssa Matz are a true example of how two people can balance each other out so perfectly that together, they create a united whole in their relationship that is greater than the sum of their two individual persons. This is true for them as a couple as well as for the skill sets that they bring to the field of social work.
For example, Ben is a risk taker; Alyssa is a reflective planner. Ben loves working with children; Alyssa prefers working with adults. Ben’s strength is his oral communication; Alyssa’s is her writing ability.
Ben and Alyssa are tremendous assets to the field of social work, each in their own way. Together they both are extremely kind, loving, and compassionate toward each other, their colleagues, and the clients that they serve in the field. In class, they added so much depth to the discussions. Their insight was highly respected and sought out by their peers.
I cannot wait to see what the future holds for them as professional social workers! They are going to make a positive impact on all the lives they touch.”