We are Graduate Students at UNC in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling programs. We reach out as part of our Understanding and Counseling Diverse Populations course. This course provides an examination of counselor training issues and skills relevant to working with diverse cultural backgrounds. Emphasis is placed on US minority groups; however, various multicultural groups will be discussed. This course is designed to sensitize students to concerns of various cultural groups, gain understanding of experiences of privilege and oppression, and develop a social justice approach.

Our visit was part of our advocacy project that has students will identify a marginalized group/population of which they would like to gain greater understanding. This project is intended to be a scaffolded approach to understanding and advocating with people marginalized by our society and hopefully will offer a way of pursuing understanding of and advocacy with people later in our careers.

This opportunity to meet with you and your program was really impactful for us. We had a long discussion afterward of all of our takeaways. Personally, this has ignited a calling that I have felt over different periods of time throughout my life, and I do feel that in the future I will look into how I can become involved in everything that you do, and hopefully can make an impact not only on someone's life, but ultimately on the flawed system.

Thanks again,

Cristina