Graduating Student Spotlight: Eva Markoulatos

Eva Markoulatos enjoys the human connection that comes with a social work degree. It was one of her favorite elements of the Master of Social Work program at the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare.

When Markoulatos graduates with her MSW this spring, she looks to take her moral compass and lessons learned into the workforce. She praises her Social Welfare instructors, including senior lecturer Nicholas Simons-Bracken, who taught her how to be personable and develop meaningful relationships with clients.

Get to know more about Markoulatos as she shares her thoughts ahead of graduation.

Where is your head at as we approach graduation?

Markoulatos: “I’m ready to graduate.  That seems to be the general consensus from my classmates. We've all put in a lot of work over the past one and a half to two years, depending on what program you're in, and we're all ready to be done, as much as we love this program. It's a lot of work to get your master's degree. We're ready to get out there and start working.”

Why social work?

Markoulatos: “I always knew I wanted to go into a helping profession. I was always drawn to therapy, after my own experiences doing therapy growing up, and so when I was a sophomore, I took just the basic intro to social work class, just because I had no idea really what social work was. Everyone who doesn't know about social work just thinks it's snatching people's kids up.

“After that first class, I really learned how diverse this field is. It is based on a value system that really aligns with my value system, and at the core of it, it's helping people and trying your best to put your own feelings aside for the greater good of who you're working with and society as a whole.”

What interested you in therapy?

Markoulatos: “I really love hearing people's stories, and I love being able to form helping relationships with people in a direct way. I think macro social work is very important. And I think that any social worker needs to effectively work across multiple domains. We need to be macro-oriented, even if we're not actively practicing macro social work.

“For me, I know myself, and I know that what is important to me is being able to form a therapeutic relationship with someone and being able to have that one-on-one influence in someone's life and hear their story and help them process it and work through it.”

What stood out to you about the MSW program at KU?

Markoulatos: “I did the Advanced Standing program, so I jumped right into my MSW two weeks after I got my BSW. It was pretty back-to-back, and it was a lot of work, but it wasn't as exhausting as I thought it was going to be.

“ The most important thing is your practicum placement, and I think that there is a general understanding amongst professors that that is what's most important to your learning, and there's a lot of flexibility because of that.

“ I really appreciated the MSW program, how we were able to hone in on more skills that I'm actually going to be using in practice. There was a very direct correlation of what I learned in my clinical practice strategies classes and my psychopathology classes and what I was actively using in my practicum.”

What advice do you have for future MSW students?

Markoulatos: “Give yourself grace and take time for yourself. Don't be afraid to ask for extensions if you need them. This program can feel like a lot, and I know most of the people who were in my cohort, we're not just doing school and practicum. We're also having other jobs, or maybe you have a family that you have to take care of, and that's a lot for people to balance. Give yourself grace.”