Joseph Govreau will serve as student marshal during the School of Social Work’s commencement ceremony at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. Govreau was recognized with the Academic Excellence Award for the BSW Class of 2025. (Photo by Derik Holtmann)

Joseph Govreau was a model student in elementary school, but as he moved into middle school, things began to change. Social structures started to become more complicated, and he was, as he puts it, “an absolute nuisance” in class who couldn’t sit still.

“I had a lot of struggles graduating high school, and I didn’t really think that college was going to work out,” Govreau recalled.

It didn’t seem like it would at first. Govreau failed out of a community college near his hometown of Farmington, Missouri, after high school. But several years later, he gained a better understanding of why he sometimes struggled in the classroom as he prepared to make a second attempt at college. At the age of 21, he received an official autism diagnosis from the Community Psychological Service at the University of Missouri–St. Louis.

Afterward, the pieces for academic success began to fall into place. With classroom accommodations, hard work and a passion for helping others, Govreau rebuilt his GPA at Jefferson College and then transferred to the School of Social Work at UMSL.

This weekend, Govreau will represent the School of Social Work as its student marshal during commencement at the Mark Twain Athletic Center. In addition to that honor, Govreau was also recognized with the Academic Excellence Award for the BSW Class of 2025. He will officially graduate from UMSL in August with his BSW after completing his final practicum, and in the fall, he will continue his education at UMSL in the MSW program.

“Being able to go back to UMSL felt like a really full circle experience for me, to be able to get my diagnosis there, get accommodations because of that, and then be able to succeed in college,” he said.

Govreau has always had a knack for technology and began working at a computer repair shop in high school. After his first attempt at college, he fell into the IT field, but eventually he wondered if there was another path for him.

While working as an IT support specialist with the Windsor C-1 School District in Imperial, Missouri, Govreau was presented with an opportunity that would change the course of his life. Windsor High School was starting an esports team, and the administrators needed a coach to run the new endeavor.

They asked Govreau if he would be interested in the position. He had no experience coaching, but he enjoyed gaming in his free time, so he accepted the proposal. In retrospect, he suspects the administrators asked him simply because he worked in IT and his desk was adorned with Star Wars memorabilia.

The program began modestly with two Nintendo Switch video game consoles, but Govreau was able to get his department to donate a few outdated computers, which the team upgraded with graphics cards.

Soon he was doing more than sourcing computers and coaching multiplayer video games.

“You’re signed up to be the esports coach, but then the students start to trust you, and then they start coming to you with things that aren’t necessarily esports-related, things going on at home, interpersonal things,” Govreau said. “At that point, that’s when I started coordinating with a school social worker there at Windsor. That process of helping students out in that way was really what led me to go, ‘I think there’s something here.’”

Govreau realized he was going to work to support those students, not to fix computers, and he started to contemplate the possibility of a career in social work. By that point, he had already received his autism diagnosis and had been steadily rebuilding his grades at Jefferson College over the course of several years.

However, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he would be on the “junior college treadmill” indefinitely. Then, in the spring of 2023, his academic advisor informed him that he would soon have enough credits to graduate with his Associate of Arts and the grades to transfer to a bachelor’s program.

“There was a very emotional moment, where I thought, ‘Whoa, this is real,’” Govreau said. “That day, I went home, and I immediately applied to UMSL as soon as I found out that I was going to be graduating. I didn’t apply anywhere else.”

In the School of Social Work, Govreau found a tight-knit community where he felt completely at home, even as an older student. He was impressed by the faculty members, who were remarkably attentive to their students and worked collaboratively with them.

Teaching Professor Linda Wells-Glover was particularly impactful. One of her discussion-orientated classes helped Govreau and his classmates approach issues from different perspectives and prepared them to get into the mindset of a social worker.

“You have to be able to learn from people from a lot of diverse backgrounds,” Govreau said. “That was one thing I knew coming into this, I’m going to have to really have a learner’s mindset. I felt like we approached topics in that class with a lot of grace. It was just a very, very good experience. I really had my mind opened up in that class.”

In order to dedicate himself to his studies, Govreau quit his job in the Windsor C-1 School District and enrolled in the BSW program full-time. The leap made it possible for him to excel academically, but it also allowed him to get involved on campus with student organizations. He became a member of Tau Sigma, an honor society for transfer students, and Phi Alpha, an honor society for social work students. But the Student Social Work Association is where he really shined as a student leader.

“The reason why I jumped into everything was because I was always very jealous of the college experience,” Govreau explained. “When I was sitting in convocation and the chancellor was talking about getting involved, I was like, ‘OK, say less.’”

During the 2023-24 academic year, Govreau served as vice president of the SSWA. He worked with then-president Briana Jones, now an UMSL alum, to organize volunteer opportunities and social events. The pair helped launch the Feed the People project in collaboration with UMSL Sustainability. The seed starter initiative earned 2024 UMSL Student Leadership Awards for Most Impactful Program and Best Overall Program.

This past academic year, Govreau stepped down from his leadership role in the organization due to the time commitment involved with his practicum. However, he’s still made a difference on campus, earning a Student Advocate Award nomination at the 2025 UMSL Student Leadership Awards.

Govreau will fulfill his final practicum hours with UMSL’s Postsecondary Summer Enrichment Camp. The camp gives high school students with intellectual and developmental disabilities a preview of the college experience. Students participate in a week of academic and vocational workshops as well as self-determination and social skills building activities.

It’s a very meaningful mission for Govreau, who knows firsthand the difference a support system can make. He likened his experience post high school to falling off a cliff. But once he found a supportive academic environment, he was able to take control of his future. He hopes he can help bridge the gap for the campers, so no one else falls like he did.

“That moment where I was able to get that diagnosis, I thought, ‘Education can still be for me,’” Govreau said. “It was a moment where I was able to reframe my experience as a success story and as a journey, rather than a failure, which is what it had been labeled as up to that point.”

Govreau will return to UMSL this fall to start the MSW program, and he also intends to earn a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Organization Management and Leadership. He anticipates completing his MSW practicum in a school setting and is leaning toward pursuing school social work as his future career but will go wherever he can make a difference.

As commencement and future academic and career milestones approach, it seems that college was for him, after all.

“It kind of feels like a movie,” Govreau said. “Right now, I’m just coasting on a lot of really good feelings, a lot of support, and I’m just really excited about what the future holds.”