Nora Luchs

Through volunteer activities and engaging courses, Nora Luchs '18 has found that it's impossible to be bored at Calvin.

Describe the influence your social work professors have had on your experience at Calvin.

The social work professors at Calvin genuinely take an interest in who I am, what I'm passionate about, and what I want to do within the field of social work in the future. Not only do they take an interest in me as an individual, but I can see that they invest just as much time into all of their other students, as well. They are some of the most engaging professors on campus, and they offer such incredible support to their students. Without the amazing interactions I've had with the social work faculty during my undergrad, I don't even know if I would be pursuing graduate school.

What opportunities did you find at Calvin to explore your interest in Social Work outside of the classroom?

Calvin's Service Learning Center played a huge role in the volunteering opportunities that I participated in. For example, my dorm had its own community partnership that was setup through the Service Learning Center. I had the opportunity to volunteer at this community partnership once a week, while also building community with other students from my dorm. In addition to this campus resource, I also learned about other opportunities that fit my interests through emails that the social work department sends out to all the social work students. These opportunities could range anywhere from job positions, lectures going on in the area, to volunteering opportunities both on and off-campus.

What would you want to tell someone starting their journey at Calvin?

The most amazing thing about being at Calvin is all of the people you'll have the chance to meet. The beauty of meeting a bunch of new people is both the things you have in common with them and the things that make you completely different -- diversity really is the spice of life! In other words, don't be afraid to start a conversation with that one kid who always sits next to you in class.

What is one thing that surprised you about Calvin?

I've always considered myself to be somewhat of a "homebody," so the thing that actually surprised me the most about Calvin was how much it felt like home! There was always some fun event happening on campus that I wanted to participate in, a concert of a cool artist on campus, or a group of friends who wanted to go do something fun downtown. It's literally impossible to be bored at Calvin, unless you have to buckle down and crank some homework out.

Describe some things that you love about your experience as a Social Work student

Honestly, I can't think of anything that I didn't love about my experience as a social work student at Calvin. The professors are the coolest people, the classes are engaging, the opportunities to get involved in topics that interest me are endless, and the other students in my field are some of the most passionate and genuinely good people I've ever met. The last four years have been a dream, as well as a blessing.