Riaz Clark

Programs	Social Work
Class	2021
Hometown	Ann Arbor, MI

Internship

Family Programming Activities at the YMCA in Burlington, VT

What has been your experience in the Social Work major?

I love it. I love that it’s a very small, tight-knit group of people. We have our group chats, and we’re always looking out for each other. If one of us isn’t in class, we’re on it, making sure they’re OK. It’s because we’re Social Workers; we’re built to do that.

Has the Upside-Down Curriculum enhanced your education?

Oh, 100%. What stuck out to me when I took my first tour at Champlain was that it doesn’t believe in standardized testing. As someone with two learning disabilities, I don’t learn very well through text and reading. And, it was incredible that during the second semester of my first year, I was able to start volunteering at the YMCA, and now I have a job there. At a traditional school, with a traditional curriculum, I wouldn’t be doing that until my junior year.

Do you have a favorite Core class?

I was in a class called Bodies: Radical Awakening with Faith Yacubian. I just love Faith. She makes sure that everyone gets what they need. The class was based off that, about radically understanding your body. She told us in class, “If your body is telling you that you need to get up and that you need to do something, you need to listen to it.” It was really interesting to learn how to listen to what your body needs.