“It’s been a whirlwind,” says social work major Scott McAllister ’17 of his pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.
Scott graduated from Concord High School in his native New Hampshire in 2001, and joined the Army in 2003, in part to get the veterans’ education benefits. “Fast-forward 14 years, and I ended up going to Elms,” he said.
During that time, he was deployed twice to Iraq and worked as a paralegal.
“I worked in foreign claims and legal assistance, so any service members that would come with any legal issues whatsoever, they would typically come to us and we would try to figure it out from overseas,” Scott said. “And then I did foreign claims, basically traveling Iraq, paying people for damages. We would set up in a location, and people would come and make their claims.”
He continued to work for the Army as a paralegal for three years after leaving the service in 2010, but then he realized he wanted to advocate for veterans and service members. He sought support services while transitioning back to civilian life, but had to “fiercely” advocate for himself, and thought, “A lot of people don’t have those skills or those opportunities, and they fall through the cracks.”
That made him even more committed to working as a veteran’s advocate, but when he started applying for jobs he quickly learned he would need a master’s degree in social work.
“I think I applied to 40 or 50 jobs, federal and state, and they said, ‘No, you need your MSW,’ ” Scott said. “That’s when I started with GCC (Greenfield Community College).”
He got his associate’s degree in liberal arts, then, with the help of his education counselor, transferred to Elms in the fall of 2015. He wanted a small-school experience, and he got that and more as a full-time student at Elms.
“Elms organically caters to veterans’ needs,” he said. “It’s smaller class sizes; it’s direct access to faculty and to staff; they’re very attentive — everything that a student veteran may need, they have already built into their structure.”
And the relationships he developed with the faculty and staff have also helped tremendously, he said.
“The professors seemed like they were personally invested in every single student,” Scott said. “You could call them on their cell phone if you had a question about an assignment — you don’t get that everywhere.”
Scott has instrumental in forming the Veterans Appreciation Committee at Elms. At Honors Convocation in May, he received the O’Connor/Joyce Social Work Student of the Year Award in recognition of how much he has contributed to the community and beyond. “I think he has the potential to really be a national leader,” said Assistant Professor Maureen Holland, director of the Elms social work program.
Social work majors are required to do 400 hours of practicum work, and Scott chose the Northampton Veteran’s Service Office, an organization at which he had previously volunteered. He has since gotten a job there and will work part time while getting his master’s in social work at Springfield College.
After getting his master’s, he hopes to advocate for veterans in the justice system.