GSS Field Internship Stories
First-Generation M.S.W. Graduate Champions NYC Asylum Seekers
For years, Erica Vargas, LMSW, GSS ’23, was a teller at Chase Bank. Her branch was a short walk away from Fordham’s Lincoln Center campus.
“I would actually go to Lincoln Center [Performing Arts Center] on my lunch break,” she said. “And I would see Fordham and say, ‘That’s such a beautiful campus.’”
Vargas’s mother immigrated to New York from El Salvador without a higher education degree or help. Once in the United States, she met her husband, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, and they had four daughters together. America gave them and their children a better life. While Vargas had been successful in her career at that point, she felt destined for more. With no higher education under her belt yet, she wondered what going back to school would do for her.
Little did she know that 20 years later, she’d graduate with her Master of Social Work degree (M.S.W.) from the school she passed on her lunch breaks. Moreover, she’s now using that degree to help asylum seekers obtain resources as an assistant director at Goddard Riverside Community Center.
“When I see people become self-sufficient—when they can move out, transition into their own apartment, secure employment, and provide for their families,” Vargas said, “that’s what’s most rewarding about my job.”
Don’t Be “Normal,” Be Extraordinary: M.S.W. Grad Turns Internship into Full-Time Position Advocating for Disability Justice
Gabby Cocco, GSS ‘24, doesn’t believe in the myth of “normal.”
“What is normal, you know?” she asked during our interview. “There’s really no sense of normal. What’s normal for you may not be normal for others.”
However, all too often, she sees individuals with disabilities described as “not normal” and missing out on their potential because of it.
“Just because someone has a disability, or they look different, or they process certain things differently, does not mean that they’re not human,” Cocco said.
This year, Cocco finished her Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) degree as a part-time student at Fordham’s Westchester campus. She completed her second-year internship at Abilis, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that provides services and supports for over 800 individuals with special needs and their families from birth through the life span. However, she had known about this issue long before her internship.
Born with cerebral palsy—a group of conditions caused by damage that occurs to the developing brain that affects movement and posture—Cocco experiences this discrimination herself.
“I know what it feels like to feel like you look different, or you may seem different with the way that you walk or the way that you talk,” Cocco said. “I completely and totally get it. But that just makes you even more unique. That’s what makes you more important.”
So, Cocco asks, what is “normal”? And why do we strive for it?
Maybe “not normal” means earning your Master of Social Work degree from a top institution. Or interning at a local nonprofit, advocating for those treated unfairly. And what about when that organization offers you a full-time job before you graduate? That seems extraordinary, not normal.
Cocco leaves Fordham GSS this spring with three things: her M.S.W. degree, a full-time position at Abilis, and the comfort that she is not normal—and she’s proud of it. She thinks others should be, too.
‘A Moment of Reflection’: M.S.W. Grad Pursues Passion After Career in Finance
Frankie Heppell, GSS ’24, thinks humans are meant to do hard things—and she’s living proof.
Climbing the corporate ladder from a call center representative to the head of global strategy for Credit and Collections at American Express was hard. Moving from London to New York—knowing no one in the country and with two small children—was hard. Navigating a global pandemic, mobilizing 6,000 employees to remote work, and dealing with a 24/7 work environment was, well, you know.
However, deciding she needed a new career path was the challenge that trumped everything. As a newly single mother with two children, it’s not easy to take that leap—but Heppell said the nature of her work was cutthroat and, worst of all, felt empty. She wanted to do something with an impact.
“To quote Socrates, ‘An unexamined life is not worth living,’” Heppell said. “So, when I left [American Express], I had a moment of reflection. I wanted to go into a helping profession.”
This M.S.W. Alumni Is Mentoring Students as a Bronx School Social Worker
Ian Staley is a 2023 graduate of Fordham GSS’s Master of Social Work (M.S.W.) program. He attended Fordham’s Westchester campus as a part-time student and was a PIPELINE for Youth Health fellow in the 2022-2023 academic year. Ian now works for NYC Public Schools as a school social worker in the Bronx, and he was recently highlighted for his work in its SESIS News newsletter.