Nora Nworu
Sometimes, research starts at home. For her senior research project, Nora Nworu ’19 asked herself, “What would my mom have needed when I was a kid?”
With that in mind, she studied the effects of depression in African-American single mothers and wondered what she could do to help.
“Their lives are busy. What resources are there that we can use?” she asked herself.
So, she developed a church program in which women can support each other—not psychotherapy but psychoeducation—facilitated by a familiar church leader.
“A lot of issues [African-American women] bring to the church instead of a medical professional,” explained Nworu.
She also practices what she preaches, caring for herself holistically. As the president of the Black Student Union, a Flowers Scholar mentor and a member of the Multicultural Council, just to name a few of her roles, she learned to check in with herself during stressful times and ask for help. “Find someone who’s going through what you’re going through,” she said.
She’s not sure where she’ll end up as a social worker, but she has no problem describing her calling: “You’re doing the Lord’s work, going to populations that are ignored by society. They have a voice, but people aren’t listening. Don’t look at yourself as a savior, but come alongside them.”