As a high school student who spent most of those years skipping class, Jeremy Foss never pictured himself as the university type.
But on Friday, May 30, he will walk across the St. John’s Arts and Culture stage during spring convocation ceremonies to collect a graduate degree: a master of social work.
Not only that, it will be Mr. Foss’s fourth degree and his second graduate degree.
Online and in-person
Mr. Foss, who is originally from Hampton, N.B., wanted his fourth degree to be from a university outside of his home province.
However, as the parent of a young child and a practising social worker in Fredericton, he also did not want to be away from home for long periods.
Memorial’s Master of Social Work Program proved to be a perfect fit.
“Discovering my own personal past connection with this province was an unexpected bonus.”
The graduate program is offered online, but includes in-person learning in three institutes. The institutes take place at the School of Social Work on the St. John’s campus for 6-8 days.
While Mr. Foss says that he’s “not the biggest fan” of online learning, the flexibility of doing a program offered partially online and partially in person allowed him to continue to live and work in his home province.
It was during the in-person institute component of the program that Mr. Foss met and connected with Dr. Christopher Smith, an associate professor in the school.
The pair hit it off immediately and discovered they had much in common, including a passion for research that focuses on drug use and misuse, harm reduction and the stigma related to drug use.
“My interdisciplinary thesis was on the potential therapeutic benefits of psychedelic use,” Mr. Foss said. “Chris was interested in this topic and the fact that I interviewed drug users, as drug users are never given a voice in the conversations surrounding drug use.”
As part of his graduate work, Mr. Foss co-authored an academic article with Dr. Smith, titled Promoting Pedagogical ‘Safe Supply’ in Response to Canada’s Toxic Drug-poisoning Crisis: A Commentary on Substance Use Education in Social Work Curricula and the ‘Toxic’ Nature of Canada’s Current Drug Supply.
The paper is published in the international journal Critical and Radical Social Work.
Interestingly, Mr. Foss recently connected with his birth parents, both of whom have roots in Newfoundland and Labrador.
“So in some ways studying at Memorial University was like a strange sort of homecoming for me,” he said. “Discovering my own personal past connection with this province was an unexpected bonus in addition to the professional academic relationships formed and the completion of this degree.”
Lasting connections
Although Mr. Foss has now completed his program, he and Dr. Smith plan to continue to work together on their shared research interests, a partnership which Mr. Foss describes as “invaluable.”
He will also continue in his current position as a mental health and addictions worker with Sitansisk/St. Mary’s First Nation, and has opened a sole proprietorship private practice in Fredericton, where he offers therapy and counselling services.
