Giovanni Perez is a BSW Junior on the IU Bloomington campus with an anticipated graduation of May 2023 Giovanni decided to pursue a career in social work due to a very stressful experience that affected his whole family and himself. During the first semester of his freshman year at IU, Giovanni’s mother was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. After the surgery and treatments that followed her diagnosis, the cost of everything came to be over $50,000. However, the medical social worker that was helping his family out was able to reduce the total cost by over $40,000. The medical social worker managed to help his family not only financially but emotionally as well. This experience made Giovanni determined to help those who are struggling the same way his family was during that period.

Giovanni would like to use his social work degree in a hospital setting as a medical social worker that can help others whether it be financially, emotionally, or in any way that he can be of assistance. He believes he has what it takes to excel in the intense and stressful environment that hospitals have.

Professionally, Giovanni is most passionate about learning how to advocate for individuals who need access to specific services and resources. Academically, he loves to learn about policies surrounding mental health and substance use.

As a volunteer at Jill’s House, an assisted living and memory care facility with folks living with Dementia, Giovanni has been able to interact with the residents. He has also engaged in activities with them such as gardening, singing, coloring, etc. Doing those activities with the residents has allowed him to get to know each resident and listen to their life stories. He was also able to assemble a Spotify playlist that allowed residents to listen to music they enjoyed throughout their life. This resulted in residents to react positively as they sang and danced hearing their favorite tunes. He is a part of the Lambda Sigma Upsilon Latino Fraternity, Inc. where his brothers and himself have been able to help make food in the community kitchen, volunteer at Bloomington’s farmers market by setting up tents, and more. With the Latino Male Initiative at La Casa/Latino Cultural Center, Giovanni has been able to create strong and meaningful connections between the Latinos in the IU community whether it be through educational discussions where topics such as intersectionality and identity were discussed, but also through social events such as bowling and paintballing.

Words of wisdom/Lessons learned: Never forget where you started. Also remember to always believe in yourself and to never give up on your dreams! Be open to new opportunities because you will not only learn and grow so much as a person, but you will meet so many new people along the way.

Favorite quote and a picture. “Because in this world, the ones who are smiling are the strongest!” – Nana Shimura