Zeth Crews graduated earlier this month with a BSW from the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. During his time at UMSL, he excelled academically and was involved on campus as an active learning assistant and as part of the Student Social Work Association. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

Zeth Crews was surprised to find himself as a student marshal in the commencement ceremony at the University of Missouri–St. Louis earlier this month.

In fact, until faculty members in the School of Social Work approached him about the honor, Crews wasn’t sure if he was even going to attend the event. However, the nomination gave him pause and a moment to reflect on his time at UMSL.

“I think I decided, ‘What is all the work for if I don’t stop and celebrate it?’” he said.

Crews had much to celebrate. He excelled academically in the BSW program, earning the Alumni and Friends Social Welfare Endowed Scholarship, and became involved on campus as an active learning assistant and vice president of the Student Social Work Association. Now with his bachelor’s degree in hand, he plans to continue his education at UMSL in the MSW program.

Growing up in Festus, Missouri, Crews always had an inclination toward helping others, but it was a time when he needed help that led him to the field of social work.

“I think I always knew I wanted to help people,” he said. “I just didn’t have a vision for how that could work out. I kind of went through my own struggles, and social workers played a big role in helping me get through that and get to a better place. When I was ready to go back to school, I wanted to do that. I wanted to take my experience and learn how to use that to help other people.”

The School of Social Work’s reputation as an excellent place to network and build community in the field drew Crews to UMSL. Once on campus, he found supportive classmates and passionate faculty members. Teaching Professor Linda Wells-Glover and Associate Teaching Professor Diane O’Brien were particularly impactful.

In Wells-Glover’s class, Crews learned about the consequences of economic and social injustice and how to effectively work with diverse populations, while O’Brien’s course provided hands-on practice facilitating family and group intervention sessions. He went on to serve as an active learning assistant with Wells-Glover.

“Zeth is a very hard-working and dedicated student,” said Lori Curtis, teaching professor and BSW director. “He gives 100% to everything he undertakes. He has a calm and confident demeanor and is able to put others at ease, which is incredibly important in the social work profession.”

Outside of the classroom, Crews joined the Student Social Work Association and helped the club organize social events and volunteer opportunities as a member of the leadership team.

“On the recommendation of my classmates, I decided to give it a shot,” he said. “I’m really glad that I did, because it’s one of the things that helped me really get to know my classmates and my professors.”

He also balanced classes and extracurriculars with a job as a community support worker at Places for People, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support and services to people dealing with mental illnesses and substance use disorders. After landing the job, he knew immediately he wanted to complete his practicum at the organization.

The BSW program requires that students complete 480 hours – 240 hours per semester – of field work to connect classroom theory to hands-on experience. Crews spent his two semesters in Places for People’s outreach department. First, he worked with frequent hospital users to get them engaged with available health services. After that, he transitioned to working with people referred to the organization through legal services.

The latter was an eye-opening, but “amazing,” experience. Crews met with clients in jail and helped them with mental health resources. It taught him how to navigate the legal system, which can have obstacles, while providing assistance. Though, at times, there were difficulties.

“I think that the hardest thing to learn starting out was the boundaries aspect, because they teach you a lot about it, but it’s a lot easier to learn about it than it is to look at the person in front of me and set a hard boundary,” he said. “That, I think, was for me one of the harder pieces.”

Now, Crews is preparing to enter the MSW program at UMSL. In the future, he would like to gain experience in clinical practice – therapy and clinical case management – and then eventually transition to social work supervision and education. He’s thankful that UMSL has provided the connections, knowledge and tools to pursue those goals.

“I think it’s been an amazing program that has taken me from someone with a mild curiosity about social work and molded me into a professional,” Crews said. “I really see myself as a professional in the field now, and I know how to interact with clients. I know how to interact with my coworkers better. And then I have this strong sense of community – I know other people in the field now.”