Olivia Sourivong is connecting with her community through Toni Johnson Scholars Program

Olivia Sourivong made a significant life change when she moved back home to pursue social work.

Before returning to Kansas City, Sourivong said she felt lost. The 20-year-old BSW senior found her place at the KU School of Social Welfare as a Toni Johnson Scholars for Racial and Social Justice Program member. How she got there is important to understanding why social work matters to her.

Her college career started in St. Louis on a political science track to be a lawyer, but she said that plan didn’t feel right anymore. A friend of Sourivong’s in St. Louis suggested social work.

Sourivong, who received an Undergraduate Research Award from the Center for Undergraduate Research, prides herself on her morals and her values. Her friend’s suggestion made an impact.

Sourivong wanted to help people and feel connected to her community directly. She found that opportunity with the Toni Johnson Scholars Program, which supports BSW, MSW and PhD students in the KU School of Social Welfare who display a commitment to service and social justice.

“That’s kind of what brought me to the Toni Johnson Scholars Program,” Sourivong said, “was knowing that I could meet with other students with different backgrounds and kind of my own community within the school.”

Sourivong, currently doing qualitative research on domestic violence among Lao refugees, found a project that was close to home. The Toni Johnson Scholars Program was a boon for Sourivong, providing her with financial scholarship, mentoring and professional development alongside her research.

As a Lao American herself — and a first-generation college student — Sourivong wants to be the representation she didn’t see when she was younger. Sourivong was born and raised in a Kansas City suburb and she couldn’t recall knowing any social workers within her circle.

“I think that made me feel the need to pursue the field, knowing not many people in my communities who I had to interact with were in this field,” Sourivong said. “It can make a lasting impact for those around me who haven’t seen that representation.”

“So, I want to be that representation.”

This aspiration is what Toni Johnson Scholars Program co-directors Joonmo Kang and Claire Willey-Sthapit want to facilitate — a sense of community and unwavering support for research on social topics that matter to the students.

Sourivong said her fulfillment with the program comes from working with people who share similar life goals and care about the same issues.

She didn’t have words to describe the way social work makes her feel, other than, “It feels like it makes sense.”

Ultimately, social work is about helping people. Sourivong said: “That could also be me.”