Allison Elizabeth Bradley is a recipient of the Roger and Carol Nooe graduate fellowship.
When Allison Elizabeth Bradley graduated with her master’s degree in social work in May, she was already well on her way to meeting her goal of becoming a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and helping communities in Knoxville and surrounding areas.
Growing up in the area, Bradley fell in love with the city’s downtown neighborhoods and wants to help improve her home.
“I really feel a commitment to this city and its social systems, and I want to pay it back to the Knoxville community,” Bradley said. “That’s important, because one criteria of the scholarship I received is a desire to stay local and work here.”
The Roger and Carol Nooe graduate fellowship helped Bradley focus her energy during graduate school on exploring practical experiences to build her professional skills.
“During my first year in the program I worked about 15 to 20 hours a week, and it was stressful to get everything done,” Bradley said. “When I got this fellowship I was able to focus a lot more. It really freed up my attention and allowed me to step back from financial concerns to focus on my studies.”
Bradley has taught yoga for years and continues to do so, but having the Nooe fellowship allowed her to concentrate more fully on the two internships she participated in during the program.
When I got this fellowship I was able to focus a lot more. It really freed up my attention and allowed me to step back from financial concerns to focus on my studies.
– Allison Elizabeth Bradley (’20), recipient of the Roger and Carol Nooe graduate fellowship
One was at Flenniken Landing, an assistive housing development in South Knoxville for the formerly homeless.
“It was such a wonderful experience,” Bradley said. “I met people with many different backgrounds and really connected with them even though their experiences were very different from mine.”
Bradley also did an internship at The Middle Path, an outpatient program in West Knoxville that provides a holistic approach to therapy.
“Getting field experience helped solidify my goal of obtaining my LCSW as a clinical social worker,” Bradley said. “I’ll most likely do private practice or work with an agency where I have a measure of independence and can incorporate some different modalities in a therapeutic setting.”
Bradley’s path to UT’s College of Social Work came through exposure to the field while working at a law firm that employed two LCSWs for elder care planning. She completed her undergraduate work in international studies and political science at Maryville College in 2011 and also took sociology classes which helped her to begin thinking about a career in social work.
“I was exposed to this field in different ways over the years and it all kind of culminated,” Bradley said. “Social work is so broad in many ways, and I tend to be someone who is curious and looking for options and ideas. Social work allows me to do that because it’s such a vast field.”
Bradley plans to find a position in community mental health to build her clinical hours towards licensure.
