When she was in the eighth grade, Julia Gross shadowed a mental health counselor and found her future. Ever since, she’s wanted to help people whose lives are destabilized by mental health issues, addiction, or personal crisis.
“It’s very much a calling,” she says, “a passion career.”
This weekend, Julia will receive a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Ohio Northern University before heading to The Ohio State University to pursue a Master of Social Work.
Looking back at her time at ONU, she uses a singular adjective to describe her experience: supportive.
“I always go back to that word,” she says. “It feels like you can do anything and find anything here just by reaching out to the right person.”
That proactive outreach led to amazing opportunities. As a freshman, Julia joined the Honors Program and also began assisting Dr. Phil Zoladz in his research on how caffeine impacts memory during stressful events. This paved the way for her honors capstone project, which explores a similar line of inquiry, only with contraceptive methods.
While Julia enjoys research, she found her stride during a practicum at ONU’s Early Childhood Development Center and an internship at the Family Resource Center in Findlay, Ohio. Her internship, in particular, cemented her decision to become a social worker.
Julia didn’t just find support at ONU; she provided it in equal measure. Since her freshman year, she has been a driving force in Active Minds, a student organization dedicated to mental health awareness. As president last year, she made it her mission to expand the group’s outreach.
“We plan mental health programming on campus,” she explains. “We are a safe space for students to come and talk and we connect them to resources.”
As graduation approaches, Julia feels a touch of apprehension about moving to a big city for the first time in her life. But mostly, she feels confident.
“I’m ready for what’s next,” she says. “Five years from now, I hope to be somewhere in the world helping people through tough situations in life.”
