把家庭和社区放在第一位

For Frankline B. Tshombe ’20, ’22 MA-MFT, Mount Mercy was the missing variable in what she thought was the perfect equation: A helping profession + Mount Mercy = Nursing.

然而，富兰克林很快发现，帮助别人的道路远没有那么简单。

“I didn’t do well in the science classes needed to get into the nursing program,” said Frankline. “Science just wasn’t my thing, and I had to come to terms with that. I still wanted to help people.”

在与她的导师交谈后，弗兰克林了解了社会工作计划和社会服务领域。 Frankline took her first course in social work and felt an immediate sigh of relief—this was it.  

“Nursing didn’t work out for me, but I still had a heart for people and wanted to help people,” said Frankline.

“这对我来说是一个大开眼界的时刻。 有很多方法可以帮助别人，而社会工作是我帮助别人的途径。 Everything happened exactly how it was supposed to happen.”

As part of Mount Mercy’s social work curriculum, Frankline interviewed and was placed at Families First Counseling to complete her internship hours—her first choice.

On her first day of her internship, Frankline accompanied her supervisor, 皇冠体育 alum Hanna (Light) Hofmeister ’13, to drug treatment court at the Linn County Juvenile Justice Center, where support is given to parents who have had their children removed from their care.

“I always told myself I would never do child welfare—I’ve heard too many stories,” said Frankline. “But on that first day, I heard so many emotional stories and, in that moment, I knew that this is what I wanted to do. It changed the trajectory of my career and definitely my life.”

“Since I had my foot in the door there and had established connections because of my internship, I was offered the position.”

当家庭第一咨询公司（Families First Counseling）有一个全职职位空缺时，弗兰克林起初还在犹豫是否要申请，但她的努力和承诺得到了认可。  

“I was worried I wouldn’t get the position because the job description a­­­sked for some years of experience,” she said. “Since I had my foot in the door there and had established connections because of my internship, I was offered the position.”

弗兰克林现在是一名全职亲属关系专家，她直接与那些照顾从家庭成员家中带走的孩子的家庭成员见面。

“In the child welfare system, when a child is removed, they are either placed in foster care or a kinship family placement. A kinship caregiver is a grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle, or anyone close to the child,” said Frankline. “It’s a lot when you take in a child who’s not yours, even if they’re family, so I am their emotional support and can provide them with tangible things too.”

With a job as emotionally straining as Frankline’s, it’s important that she prioritizes her own emotional and mental health.

“It’s a lot to take in,” said Frankline. “You’re listening to these raw, heavy stories every day. It’s important for me to make strict boundaries and separate my work life from my personal life.”

On top of her full-time job and making time for herself, Frankline is also enrolled in Mount Mercy’s 婚姻与家庭治疗文学硕士 (MA-MFT) program to further her options in the social work and mental health fields.

“The plan was to work for a while and then enroll, but I saw their table at an event on campus and applied, then I got accepted, then it just went from there,” said Frankline. “It just happened so quickly.”

凭借她的MA-MFT，弗兰克林想成为儿童心理健康的倡导者。

“I want to holistically focus on mental health in the Black and African communities,” said Frankline. “My MA-MFT isn’t just for me—it’s for my people, my community, and those who never got access to therapy or haven’t dealt with their traumas.”

Frankline attributes her selfless and humble attitude to her family’s belief in the role education plays in bettering the world around them. After emigrating from South Africa in 2013, Frankline’s mom is a translator for the schools and hospitals while her dad works as an electrical engineer and graduated from Iowa State University. Frankline’s uncle, Hilaire Tshombe ’20, is also a graduate of 皇冠体育 and works at the Catherine McAuley Center. 

“Education in my family is huge,” said Frankline. “We use our education to better our lives, but also the lives of others—it’s not just for us. We want to help our community here and back home.”