Every so often, we highlight the importance of student scholarships by introducing you to the very students they help to succeed. Today, we’re featuring Danielle Bouchard ‘15, social work, who is an Alumni Association General Scholarship recipient.

Name: Danielle Bouchard
Major: Social work and print media minor
Extra Curricular Activities: NASW Member, BSW Representative for NASW, Meals on Wheels Volunteer, President of the Social Work Student Association, Vice President of Phi Alpha Honor Society, and avid rock climber.
Scholarship received: Alumni Association Scholarship

Q: Why did you decide to attend UMBC?
I wanted to attend an institution that provided opportunities for research, had a diverse student population, and was in close proximity to Washington, D.C. I was also drawn to UMBC because of the reputation of its social work program.

Q: What’s been the most amazing discovery you’ve made so far as a student here?
I am able to interact and study with students from an array of different ethnicities, races, and cultures. I am able to have intellectual conversations with students who have opposing views on topics discussed in and outside of class.

Q: Tell us about a class or club that has really opened your mind.
My first semester at UMBC I enrolled in SOWK 200 taught by Dr. Guzman-Rae. She opened my mind to the vastness and versatility of a social work degree. I was introduced to the various types of roles social workers can play: macro, mezzo, and micro. We can be brokers, advocates, counselors, educators, facilitators, or a combination of them all.

Q: How important is it to you as a student to get scholarship support?
If I did not receive any scholarship support, I would have had to postpone attending school full-time and have work another job to offset the expenses of attending school. It is extremely important to me to receive these scholarships so I can focus on my education and my long-term career goals. In addition, without the Gilman Scholarship I would not have the resources to study abroad in Ecuador and Peru this past term.

Q: What are you most proud of accomplishing in your time at UMBC?
My involvement in the Social Work Student Association. A couple students and I reignited SWSA by increasing membership and providing monthly opportunities for all students to become involved on and off campus helping other individuals within the community.

Q: What would you say to the people who provided your scholarship?
I have been fortunate enough to meet with two of the donors of my scholarships and will hopefully meet with the third within the coming months. I expressed my gratitude for their generous donation and explained how the scholarship has helped me further my education.

Q: What do you hope to do after graduation?
I hope to be accepted into the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service in India. I want to work with victims of human trafficking in rural areas of India. After the program, I hope to attend UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy and School of Social Welfare.

Every morning when Lisa Kakavas ‘94, psychology, gets ready for work, her dog Zildjian (or Z for short), inspects her outfit of choice. “[He] gets excited when I pull certain pants out,” says Kakavas. That’s because Z knows that when search and rescue gear comes out, he gets to go to work, too.

Kakavas and Z–a German shepherd–volunteer with the Mason-Dixon Rescue Dogs (MDRD), an organization that trains dogs in search and rescue of both live and deceased people. She learned about the organization years ago when her husband got involved with MDRD. At first, she says, she thought it was a little crazy that he was driving an hour to “play with his dog,” but it wasn’t long before she started training her first search and rescue dog, Cleo. And Z, of course, followed in Cleo’s footsteps.

The first year or two of a dog’s life in the MDRD is spent training. “For the first full year we build that drive [to search and recover], and we do that by building the paycheck,” says Kakavas. After every hard period of training, Z is rewarded with a good game of tug of war and sometimes a treat.

Now, 14 years after joining MDRD, Kakavas is a lead trainer and the president of the group. As the president, she arranges training dates and locations, schedules certification tests for the dogs, and tracks the progress of each member (both two- and four-legged). In between calls for a search and rescue group and training, Kakavas holds down her job in retail at the UMBC bookstore.

“I fill up my calendar with training and fill in around it,” she said, mentioning that nearly every weekend — both Saturdays and Sundays — through summer was already scheduled with training. Luckily, Bookstore Bob, or the Director of the UMBC Bookstore, doesn’t mind. “[He] is very supportive, and he likes to hear the stories, too,” Kakavas said. And with five years of experience under Z’s collar, he and Kakavas have over 50 search stories to tell.

The cases can range anywhere from a
few hundred square feet to 80 acres of land, and the number of dogs sent out depends on the situation. Her longest search was in Pennsylvania, searching for an infant. Kakavas said the trip took 13 hours of searching spaced out over two days. She and Z have also traveled as far away as Peru, called in by local law enforcement to search for a missing hiker. “The search area was the side of an entire mountain,” she said, recalling the stress of the event. Other trips have included night searches for missing persons in natural disaster areas.

Although Kakavas and Z have worked through nights, spent countless hours training together, and hiked hundreds miles over the years, it doesn’t seem to be phasing her, or her dog. “The reason they work so hard is because we make it fun,” she said.

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