Sarah Maddock, a senior in social work from Utah who graduated on Feb. 27, said she realized early in her life she felt strongly about helping people. Maddock’s childhood experiences stemmed from her close relationship with her mom and challenges with friends.
“At a young age, I kind of knew that I was good at helping people. My mother grew up in the projects as a child, and she wasn’t raised in the best circumstances.” Maddock said she’s helped her mother cope with pain and trauma from her childhood.
“Even in high school,” Maddock said, “I had a friend who I would help a lot–I talked her out of suicide a couple of times.”
Helping those around her through such significant trials was difficult, Maddock said, but it ultimately showed her what she wants to do over her lifetime.
“It was really hard at first... but I feel like when it comes to giving the same help to people who I don’t have a personal relationship with, it would come a lot easier and I would be able to apply the same skills.”
Maddock said her pursuit of social work once at BYUH was deeply affected by a class she took from Christian Kunz. “We had to do these inspirational projects where the only requirement was that it had to be 10 minutes, and we just had to talk about something to inspire the class, and it had to be confidential.”
The classroom atmosphere created by the sharing of “really deep, life-changing experiences that happened to them” drew the classmates closely together. “We’re all very tight-knit at the Social Work Department,” Maddock said. “I’ve gone through the whole major with these people, and now I’m graduating with them.”
Maddock plans on furthering her experience after graduation through participation in refugee resettlement, AmeriCorps (similar to Peace Corps abroad,) and being an Especially For Youth Counselor. Her ultimate pursuit is creating her own non-government organization. She said the hardest thing has been pinning down what she wants her organization to focus on.
“There’re so many different things I’m passionate about,” said Maddock. But she said it will be about helping victims of human trafficking or women who have experienced domestic or sexual abuse.
While attending school, Maddock said she working as a tour guide, a hale resident assistant, and serving as the first counselor in her ward’s Relief Society increased her social work skills.
“You’d be surprised the intense things that people go through,” said Maddock, describing her time as an RA. “I’ve had to talk to girls who were in distress, stressing out, or depressed.”
The job sometimes gets a bad rap amongst hale residents for rule enforcing, but Maddock said, “I think that there’s more than just enforcing policies.”
Maddock’s roommate is her Relief Society president. “Even when we’re not having meetings,” she said, “we’re talking about what the bishop needs or things the girls need in our hale and Relief Society.”
Immersed daily, nightly and hourly in her major and passion, Maddock said she feels it is her calling in life. Having high standards to live up to, she said, “This is me trying to get at that level.”
A close friend of Maddock’s, Rebecca Te’o, a freshman from Texas studying ICS-anthropology, said Maddock is friends with everyone. “Sarah has friends who have gone on missions and come back. She has friends who just came down to visit. She has friends who live here. She knows people in town and just knows a lot of people.”
Te’o attributed this to her friendly nature. “She’s really outgoing and easy to talk to.”