Stacey Toma

Now working as a Child and Youth Services Case Aide, Stacey Toma credits NorQuest College for inspiring her to pursue the Social Work diploma program.

While taking academic upgrading at NorQuest, home to the largest foundational learning programming of any post-secondary institution in Alberta, Stacey took advantage of the College’s many support services. It was through using these supports that Stacey began discovering her own passion for helping people.

“Everyone at NorQuest was so helpful, ranging from tutoring to financial services,” she recalls. “People often ask what brought me to social work. I really think that because of my experiences at the College, social work found me. Once I entered the program, I knew I made the right choice.”

Unique multicultural focus

In addition to social work fundamentals, NorQuest's two-year Social Work diploma program incorporates a unique multicultural focus to help students develop intercultural values, knowledge and skills for social work practice.

Working with a broad range of clients, Stacey says this focus of the program has been invaluable to her work as a Case Aide.

“It helps a lot,” she says. “With many of the kids I work with, I think a lot of people just see hostile, delinquent youth. But what I have come to recognize is that they are often a product of their environment. They are not bad kids; they just need our support.”

If anyone knows about the importance of second chances, it’s Stacey.

“I married young, never completed high school, ended up divorced, uneducated and out of work due to a car accident,” she explains, adding she also has a learning disability. “Making the decision to return to school, especially as a mother of two, was difficult. But I am glad I did, and there’s still so much to learn. That’s part of why I love my job.”