Sarah Hood, assistant director of field education. Courtesy photo.
When Sarah Hood was 18 months old, she was left on a train in Seoul, South Korea, with nothing but the clothes on her back.
A fellow passenger spotted her and took her to a local orphanage, where she stayed for two years until she was adopted by a family more than 6,700 miles away in Newton, Massachusetts.
Her experience set in motion a chain of events that have shaped her career path, she says, and culminated in a rewarding career as an assistant director of field education for the Boston College School of Social Work.
“I strongly believe that your experiences lead you toward your true calling,” says Hood, who joined the field education team in 2011.
Since then, she’s worked with more than 1,000 master’s students, particularly those in the clinical program who specialize in children, youth, and families. She says she places up to 100 students in internships at agencies each year, working closely with the social-workers-in-training to find their perfect professional match.
Her relationship with students is based on a belief that she developed as a kid growing up in a racially and ethnically diverse household less than a mile from campus, daughter to an Irish Catholic mother and Russian Jewish father: You shouldn’t judge people based on what you perceive without digging deeper into who they truly are.
“Every single person, you look at them and you think one thing and you literally have no idea,” says Hood. “So any time someone walks in my office, I think about how there is so much there within them that I have no clue about.”
So, she listens and asks questions. The first question she asks every student is: “Why do you want to become a social worker?” Students, in turn, often reveal personal reasons for wanting to join the ranks of the social work profession, opening up what Hood calls a “world of conversation.”
Sometimes, Hood steers students away from the path they think they should take. As an example, she points to a hypothetical student who struggled with an eating disorder and now wants to work with others who are wrestling with similar problems.
“I’ll say, ‘Have you addressed those challenges for yourself, because it may be difficult for you to work in a place that’s so close to your own experience.’”
“I strongly believe that your experiences lead you toward your true calling.”
Hood’s interest in the helping profession dates back to her youth. As an adoptee in her teens, she knew she wanted to take the support she received from her parents and pay it forward by improving the lives of other children who had difficult upbringings.
What she didn’t know is that she would reach her career goal through social work. That is, until she earned a bachelor’s degree in human development from Boston College in 1991 and spent a year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, working with children with autism in St. Louis.
“That changed everything for me,” she says. “After that, that was it. I 100 percent knew that my destiny was social work for sure.”
Hood worked for the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families from 1992 to 1994 and then earned a master’s in social work from BC in 1996. She spent nearly 15 years at the MENTOR Network, now known as Sevita, a provider of home and community-based health care, and then returned to BC to shape the next generation of social workers into compassionate clinicians for children and their families.
Hood’s favorite part of her job? The students. She keeps an open-door policy, she says, and relishes the kind of off-the-cuff conversations that occur when they pop in to visit.
“They’re amazing, they’re interesting, they’re brilliant, they’re excited,” says Hood, who also advises BCSSW students who get placed in internships at BC. “They bring me so much joy every single day.”
She’s invested in students’ success, she says, and routinely helps them polish résumés and hone interviewing skills. Last year, she hosted a four-session workshop for graduating students of color that examined vicarious trauma, self-care, and finding joy through cultural practices. “I’m very focused on making sure students are set up for success when they graduate,” she says.
Graduates often call her, tell her that they’re ready to supervise the next crop of MSW students. She gets a kick out of that. “That makes me so happy because I’m like, ‘Oh gosh. They still want to be linked to BCSSW and now they want to give back.’”
“Her ability to highlight my potential and motivate me to pursue each and every one of my passions has played an enormous role in my professional development and personal growth.”
Former students describe Hood as “confident,” “passionate,” and “empathetic.” She’s a “true hype-woman,” they say, with a knack for asking thoughtful questions with a sense of grace and humility.
“Out of all of the faculty and staff who have supported me personally and professionally over the past seven years, Sarah has truly gone above and beyond to reassure me and believe in me,” says Aliese Lash, M.S.W.’17, who opened her own private practice a year ago. “Her ability to highlight my potential and motivate me to pursue each and every one of my passions has played an enormous role in my professional development and personal growth.”
A few years ago, Hood encouraged Lash to become a field adviser for BCSSW students. Lash followed her suggestion, joined the advising team in 2022, and now sees Hood in the corridors of McGuinn Hall on a regular basis, talking about everything from decolonizing social work practice to personal hobbies.
“Sarah has played a transformative role in my journey as a social worker,” says Lash, “and her belief in my potential helps to fuel and amplify my aspirations.”
Caitlyn Spuckes, M.S.W.’23, met Hood when she was a sophomore at BC. She was studying applied psychology and wanted Hood’s take on whether she should apply to the B.A./M.S.W. dual degree program.
“I remember how comfortable she made me feel and how easily she pushed back and challenged my assumptions that I was ‘not enough,’” says Spuckes. “She shared about her social work journey and spoke highly of the relationships that she had built along the way. I felt affirmed leaving her office, and from that point on, Sarah has continued to support my own social work journey.”
Spuckes landed two internships at BC with Hood’s help—one at the Law School Legal Services LAB, the other at the Women’s Center—and plans to keep in touch with her mentor as she enters the next phase of her career.
“She has offered support on reviewing job offers, to make sure we are not selling ourselves short, and just to discern together what roles feel fulfilling and sustainable,” says Spuckes, who is currently studying for the licensed clinical social worker exam and applying to jobs in her home state of New Jersey. “She will be someone that I will check in with for support across the board—life, work, family, you name it.”
Hood regularly encourages social workers like Spuckes to explore different career paths, saying that she “lights up” when she discusses the countless ways in which her students can use their skills in professional settings.
But the piece of advice she gives to students the most is to be kind to themselves. She tells them to go easy on themselves if they get an A- on a paper instead of an A. That they’ll be better clinicians if they treat themselves with care and compassion. That they’ll absorb more knowledge if they take the time to revel in the hard, yet worthwhile process of becoming a social worker.
“You’re going to learn less if you just plow through the program to get through it,” she says. “Take a minute. Be present. Look around you. Breathe in, breathe out.”
Hood is living proof that the right path isn’t always the easiest path.
