Like many students, Trinity Stryer wasn’t exactly sure what she wanted to do with the rest of her life when she started her journey at Guilford College. One thing she did know, however, was she wanted a career where she could help others. Then she took a few psychology classes and enjoyed them. She decided not just to major in psychology, but to make a career of it.

Now a senior, Trinity has been accepted to the graduate program at the University of North Carolina to earn a masters in social work. She wants to become a counselor with a private practice. Trinity credits her professors at Guilford for helping her figure out the career path that fit her goals and guiding her through the process to get there.

“A lot of times people don’t really think about a master’s in social work as leading to work as a therapist in private practice,” Trinity says. “But when I talked about my goals with (Charles A. Dana Professor of Psychology) Eva Maguire, my academic advisor, she helped me with figuring out the programs that would get me where I wanted to go.”

Trinity was looking for a program with a cultural competency focus, as well as a place where she would have the opportunity to take classes and study diverse populations. Through talking with Eva she learned the many different career paths available after obtaining a master’s in social work, and it felt like the right fit for her.

Going to graduate school from college is a big transition, but Trinity says her experiences at Guilford have prepared her well for the next step in life. As an honors student, Trinity completed a thesis in her major. She conducted research about micro-agressions faced by LGBTQ students at Guilford. “I found that Guilford is doing a decent job putting safeguards in place, because my results were that the incidents were pretty low, but it is still a problem on a societal level that needs to be fixed.”

Trinity says the research and writing she did for her thesis helped gave her the confidence to go on to graduate school. She also gained important writing skills and study habits while at Guilford. Some of that she credits to being on the lacrosse team all four years. “As a student athlete you have to learn to set priorities and manage your time, especially during the season,” Trinity says. “It can be exhausting at times, but I wouldn’t change it for anything. The team is like a family to me.”

As Trinity embarks on the next big life adventure, she is starting graduate school with more focus and determination on her future goals than she had as an incoming freshman. Always a strong student throughout her entire school career, Guilford provided the space for her to continue to grow. “I’ve learned so much and grown in my confidence during my time at Guilford,” Trinity says. “I can’t put a name to it specifically, but I feel myself being a different person.”