In her own words
Octavia Beyah
As a child, I always knew I wanted a career that would allow me to give back to my community. I wanted to wake up every morning knowing that I was positively impacting the lives of others and truly making a difference in the world. When you grow up in a low-income neighborhood and rely on others to support you along the way, you naturally learn the importance of empathic interpersonal relationships, compassion, and relatability. During my two years as a social worker, I witnessed the lack of access that low socio-economic communities have to mental health services. Through building relationships with my clients, I’ve realized that the focus on mental health needs to be much more prevalent than it currently is. For the past year, I have been enrolled in Temple University’s Counseling Psychology Graduate program. I have had the honor of working with high school students in North Philadelphia, which has only strengthened my belief that mental health is one of the most neglected yet integral components of the health care system. Through working with students over the past couple of months, I have personally witnessed improvements in behavior, attendance, and attitude towards school, as well as an increase in the healthy relationships students have with each other and the school staff. Every day, I am able to see the impact that therapy has on my students and their family members. I am avidly working to provide access to therapy to populations that would not usually call to make an appointment, which is helping me to fulfill my goal of having a career that will allow me to give back and positively impact the lives of others!