Knowing where to draw the line can mean many things, but for master’s student Brittany Wienholz, it means knowing how much you can do well and saying “no” to more. Wienholz has plenty on her plate as a second-year master’s student in social work conducting research on the journey of surviving after childhood sexual abuse. She’s also president of the Associated Masters of Social Work Students of Wyoming, an AmeriCorps member, an intern at Peak Wellness Center in Cheyenne and a volunteer on the clock-winding committee at St. Matthew’s Cathedral.
After earning her bachelor’s degree and working in her native California, Wienholz took a job working in child protection in Rapid City, S.D., but a desire to continue her education brought her to UW.
Wienholz was awarded three grants for her research—a College of Health Sciences Seed Grant, a Social Justice Research Center grant and a Willits Ethics Summer Independent Study Award. She will present at the Shepard Symposium on Social Justice this spring and graduate in summer 2014. After that, she plans to make a difference in the field of trauma recovery.
“I think people are really resilient and have a lot of strength,” she says. “A lot of times it’s just having someone to support you and to point that out that makes all the difference.” She hopes to be that person as a clinical social worker.
IMPACT: Contributing valuable research into surviving childhood trauma and a future serving the community as a social worker.