Global Activities Scholars Program

Sarah Jadrich (MSW ’12) always had a passion for social work. She was equally passionate about gaining a global perspective of the field by learning and working abroad. The Global Activities Scholars Program offered her the unique opportunity to combine both passions while earning her MSW at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.

Now living in Washington DC, Jadrich is a Family and Education Specialist for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), one of nine refugee resettlement agencies that helps newly arrived refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking during the critical first months in the U.S.

The Global Activities Scholars Program was hugely beneficial to me. The opportunities and experiences I had through this program gave me such a leg up in my competitiveness, especially here in D.C., where everyone wants to do global work. My research in Australia, as well as the coursework here, fully prepared me for the rigors of the work that I’m so passionate about.

“I work with refugees from the moment they arrive here in the U.S. until they complete the mandatory 8-month refugee settlement program,” says Jadrich. “One of the most important things I do is help them with their cultural orientation. Things that are common knowledge for most American are the things they know nothing about: buying groceries, paying rent, or seeking medical attention. I help them form relationships in their new community, and make sure the community knows who they are. It’s my job to ease their transition into their new lives and help them become self-sufficient, contributing members in their new community.”

As a Global Activities Scholar, Jadrich was one of six students selected (each year) to complete a semester-long global field placement. Jadrich spent four months in Melbourne, Australia, where she evaluated refugee settlement programs for the Ecumenical Migration Center (EMC) of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence.

“I evaluated programs that focused on the growing issues of family breakdown and domestic violence in refugee communities,” says Jadrich.  “My role was to help determine their effectiveness for the refugees they served, and whether they were culturally appropriate and accessible. My research helped determine what was being done successfully, and what could be done better.”

Jadrich prepared for the experience by taking the Global Social Work Practice seminar prior to going abroad. Upon returning to U-M, Jadrich took the required Global Social Work Practice Re-Entry and Professional Practice seminar, which is designed to help students “unpack” their global experience and further augment the learning and professional development that took place while abroad.

After graduation, Jadrich took a position at the Program in International and Comparative Studies at U-M, which in turn led to a fellowship with the Church World Service in Washington, D.C., where she worked in immigration and refugee policy advocacy.