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UFV Governor General’s Gold Medal — Kelly Ridder: interest in youth mental health research led to master’s studies/ Governor General’s Silver Medal — Shanna Yaroshuk: Child and Youth Care grad has passion for helping families

Fraser Valley – Kelly Ridder knows a thing or two about juggling priorities.

She balanced a full-time job in the human services field with studies toward a Master of Social Work degree over the past 20 months, with being a mother to six children between the ages of 13 and 25, all still living at home.

And she did it so well that she earned a perfect 4.33 grade point average. In recognition of this academic excellence, Ridder is this year’s recipient of the Governor General’s Gold Medal at the University of the Fraser Valley, given to the top student in a master’s degree program.

Ridder came to the field of social work because she has always had a passion for social justice and advocacy.

“I have valued and enjoyed my years at UFV, in the Social Services diploma, Bachelor of Social Work and now the Master of Social Work. I have found social work faculty at UFV to be a very inspiring and encouraging group of professors, which motivated me to continue and further my education and learning,” she says.  

Until recently, she was working as a substance use youth counsellor in the Chilliwack School District. She has now taken a new home-health-care position with Fraser Health, which during a pandemic means donning personal protective equipment in order to visit clients in their homes.

After having worked one-on-one with youth with substance use issues for the last few years, Ridder wanted to further advance her knowledge and skills in the area of mental health.

“There is so often a mental health aspect to the challenges faced by those dealing with substance use issues. The lack of mental health services available to youth was a concern for me. That was my main motivation for enrolling in the MSW program.”

In her previous role as a youth substance use counselor in the Chilliwack school district, her work involved counselling and supporting adolescents who were engaging in substance use and often living with mental health issues.

In some cases, the youth experienced a mental health crisis or concern that required them to attend the hospital emergency department for additional psychiatric care and treatment. The youths’ experiences with the hospital emergency department and the psychiatric ward highlighted a multitude of issues and concerns which became the impetus for her major research paper.

“My research examined the current practices and responses to adolescents in North America who are seeking psychiatric care from an emergency department. I wanted to further research this area because I wanted to gain a better understanding of the clinical guidelines and frameworks in place when youth present at the emergency department in a mental health crisis. I believe that how we respond, support, and provide treatment for individuals living mental health concerns necessitates further research, and not just for adolescents but adults as well.”

Ridder found the small-class cohort-based approach of the MSW program was well-suited to her busy life. The group got together once a month for seminars and worked online for the rest of the assignments and lectures.

“My cohort in the MSW program consisted of a group of passionate social workers who worked in various areas in the field of social work. Unfortunately, due to the current pandemic, we were not able to meet for our final classes and celebrate our accomplishments together.”

Ridder enjoyed the learning opportunities associated with the rigorous MSW program but had to be strategic to fit her studies into her routine. 

“In order to do this, I had to be very structured and organized. I would set my alarm for 5:30 a.m. so I could do a couple of hours of reading and schoolwork before my workday started, and weekends were pretty well all about school work. I am grateful to my husband, children, and family for encouraging and supporting me and allowing me the space to focus on my studies while I was in the MSW program.” 

It was a nice surprise when she found out that her hard work had paid off with a perfect GPA and the Governor General’s Gold Medal.

As UFV’s Convocation ceremonies have been postponed due to COVID-19, Ridder was visited at home by UFV President Joanne MacLean in full academic regalia to present the medal.

Governor General’s Silver Medal — Shanna Yaroshuk: Child and Youth Care grad has passion for helping families

Shanna Yaroshuk started out her career in the early childhood education field, and looked to the University of the Fraser Valley when she wanted to continue her studies.

“I enjoyed working with children but decided to expand my horizons and go beyond the childcare centre setting.”

She enrolled in the Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care degree at UFV, which allowed her to ladder her earlier studies into the program.

She excelled in the program and graduated with a near perfect 4.31 grade point average, which earned her the Governor General’s Silver Medal as the top graduate from bachelor’s degree program.

Her third child was one year old when she started the program, and she had a goal of graduating by the time he was ready for kindergarten, which he starts in the fall.

“I liked the program because it was flexible. I could be home during the day with my kids and go to classes in the evening,” she notes. “One of the best things about continuing my studies at this stage in my life is that as I was home as a mom with kids it was nice to get out and interact with adults on an intellectual basis.”

It was also useful to study in the field of child and youth studies while raising her own three children.

“Everything I learned totally resonated with my experience working in childcare centres and raising my own children. My studies also helped me understand my clients’ experiences and how to help the families I worked with navigate childhood trauma.”

And the program aligned with her tendency to take a strengths-based approach in both her personal and professional life.

Yaroshuk was very surprised to find out that she was the Governor General’s Silver Medalist winner, but it was a pleasant surprise.

“I worked very hard to do well so it was nice to get this news.”

She learned to take risks and grow as a child-care professional through her experiences.

“In 2017 I had the opportunity to present a paper at an international child and youth care conference. I loathe public speaking, but I took the risk and did it. It was extremely scary, but so neat to be surrounded by so many professionals with a child and youth care background. That experience opened my eyes to so many possibilities.”

She credits her professors and her fellow students with helping her to get through the degree program.

“Everyone I went to school with was amazing, and my professors were very supportive. Professor Cindy Rammage met me where I was at, and Professor Mark Littlefield pushed me to step out of my comfort zone. And the program head, Christine Slavik, supported me when I didn’t think I would make it through to the end.”

Like many other post-secondary students, Yaroshuk experienced a sudden end to her in-classroom studies when the pandemic forced classes to go purely online.

“It was nice not to have to commute from Surrey to Abbotsford, but I was sad not to experience a proper ending with my classmates.”

As for the future, Yaroshuk is going to put family first for now.

“I will take the summer to be home with my children, then reset,” she says. “In the future I would like to work in a position that supports my passion for supporting families.”

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