{"id":1589,"date":"2021-04-19T13:00:38","date_gmt":"2021-04-19T17:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/?p=1589"},"modified":"2021-04-29T11:07:38","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T15:07:38","slug":"shining-example","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogarchive.utc.edu\/magazine\/shining-example\/","title":{"rendered":"Shining Example"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Mashara Miller\u00a0won the University\u2019s social work public service award for\u00a0leadership<\/em>\u00a0<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Marshar<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

by Shawn Ryan<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MMashara\u00a0Miller has an internship\u00a0in the geriatric psychology division\u00a0at\u00a0CHI Memorial Hospital.\u00a0While pursuing a degree in social work, she\u00a0has taken 20\u00a0course\u00a0hours in spring semester at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.\u00a0Miller also is\u00a0president of the Black Student Alliance and vice president of the\u00a0UTC\u00a0NAACP chapter.\u00a0Off campus, she\u2019s\u00a0involved in Big Brothers, Big Sisters\u00a0and Circle K International, among other\u00a0community service\u00a0organizations.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, and she was the 2020 Homecoming Queen at UTC. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Miller doesn\u2019t consider herself much of a get-out-there-and-meet-the-people type of person. \u201cI’m not very social like speaking in front of crowds and stuff,\u201d she says. \u201cIn group projects, I\u2019m, \u2018Oh, I’d rather do it by myself.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being in social work means dealing with people all day every day, however, and her classes and professors at UTC have given her the confidence to overcome her former fears. \u201cSocial work has definitely helped me prepare me for the leadership roles I have undertaken on campus because they taught me about responsibility, making sure I followed through with things, making sure I stay consistent because it only takes one time to show any type of unprofessionalism,\u201d says Miller, set to graduate in May. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMashara\u00a0will be an amazing advocate, because she is empathetic and solution-focused.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s especially true in her current internship, which she describes as medical social work. \u201cI work with nurses and doctors and health coaches. So they say to me, \u2018Hey, this person has high blood pressure, but they can’t afford their medicine.\u2019 Then it gets sent to me, so I can find the resources or how to afford their medicine. I’m filling out a prescription application so they can renew their medicine. It means being able to connect people that can’t afford resources,\u201d Miller says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her ultimate goal is to be a neonatal nurse practitioner, but working with geriatric patients would be just fine, too, she says. In one profession she would be dealing with newborn patients or in the other she would work with older patients with special problems. Social work is critical to both, she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethany Womack,\u00a0assistant professor in the social work program, says Miller\u2019s empathy will be a major factor in her success.\u00a0\u201cMashara\u00a0will be an amazing advocate, because she is empathetic and solution-focused,\u201d\u00a0Womack\u00a0says.\u00a0\u201cThe empathy helps her ask insightful questions about what is contributing to someone\u2019s distress, and\u00a0being solution focused will help her\u00a0find\u00a0creative\u00a0ways to foster change.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“\u202fYou know the phrase \u2018It is what\u00a0it\u00a0is?'”\u00a0Mashara\u00a0adds, “I believe\u00a0we can make it into\u00a0it is\u00a0what it ought to be.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social work faculty nominated Miller for the program\u2019s public service award based on her leadership roles in the Black Student Alliance and the UTC Chapter of the NAACP, Womack says.\u202f\u201cI love being involved. I love helping people,\u201d Miller says. \u201cI think being in these organizations helps me be more social. Like when we have a dance, I’m making sure I talk, so I don’t get so nervous doing it. But I definitely want to say it was probably more about getting involved, just wanting to do things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately after graduating from high school in Memphis, Miller spent a year at Murray State University in Kentucky after her mother convinced her that Chattanooga was too far. Murray State wasn\u2019t a good fit, either as a college or a place to live. \u201cI just felt like there weren\u2019t enough organizations. There wasn’t even a Black Student Alliance or NAACP,\u201d she says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A weekend trip to Chattanooga and UTC changed her mind about where to attend college. \u201cI  saw how everyone was together, the diversity that was here, people reaching out to you, saying, \u2018Hey, come to our dance. Hey, get involved.\u2019 I really loved this.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mashara Miller\u00a0won the University\u2019s social work public service award for\u00a0leadership\u00a0 by Shawn Ryan MMashara\u00a0Miller has an internship\u00a0in the…\n","protected":false},"author":1105,"featured_media":1595,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115750],"tags":[101023],"coauthors":[100988],"class_list":{"0":"post-1589","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spring-2021-edition","8":"tag-right-column","9":"cs-entry","10":"cs-video-wrap"},"yoast_head":"\nShining Example - UTC Magazine Archive: Jul 2007 - Oct 2025<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Shining Example - 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