Merrimack College students in need of a helping hand this academic year can find support from Jamie Reynolds M’27, Anna Murray M’27 and Laura Moskal Escobar M’27, who are serving as the Campus Assessment, Response, and Evaluation (CARE) team fellows.
Merrimack College’s CARE (Campus Assessment, Response, and Evaluation) team provides outreach to students who may be struggling socially or emotionally.
“Students can fill out our public reporting system, the CARE report, for themselves or anyone who’s struggling with any issue, such as in-class or roommate stuff,” explained Murray. “We’ll reach out and make sure they have all the resources and support they need. We could also refer them to another resource on campus that can better help them.”
All three fellows are enrolled in Merrimack’s clinical mental health master’s program. Murray said she never would have imagined herself in the program as an undergrad. She earned her bachelor’s in educational studies with the intent of becoming a kindergarten teacher.
“I actually got to intern with my old kindergarten teacher,” Murray said. “I loved it, but I realized I wouldn’t want to do it for the rest of my life. I knew that I wanted to stay in the school environment, though. I had another internship this past fall with a K-8 school counselor and I really liked it. Now, I’m getting my clinical mental health license to be a school therapist.”
Conversely, Reynolds said she knew she wanted to be a clinical mental health counselor for young adults since middle school. She graduated with a bachelor’s in psychology.
“I’ve always pictured myself as a therapist someday,” Reynolds said. “I took a class in high school to confirm that I wanted to do this, such as sociology and a college-level psychology class. After that, I knew it was the route for me.”
Moskal Escobar is currently looking for a change in her professional life. She previously spent the past 10 years working as a gynecologic oncology nurse. Now, Moskal Escobar hopes to open a private mental health practice that blends care with creative expression, holistic healing and community support.
“I knew the medical system was not where I wanted to be any longer,” she said. “I was exploring different things and it led me down a path of holistic wellness. I became a yoga teacher and a health coach and eventually earned my second bachelor’s degree in holistic health. I feel like mental health is the core of all the challenges of well-being and the approach to holistic health starts with mental health. ”
Moskal Escobar said working with CARE has made her feel very reassured about her future studying mental health.
“I enjoy that there are people I can rely on in the fellowship,” she said of her two co-fellows. “It’s nice to have more than one brain to help figure everything out.”
“We’ve gotten to a point where we’ve gotten comfortable with each other,” Reynolds followed up, “and we’ve already started reaching out to students and meeting with them.”
For more information on CARE, call 978-837-5175 or email [email protected].
