Alumni Profile: Althea Gorospe, Social Work (MSW) ‘23

When Althea Gorospe completed her bachelor’s degree in social work, graduate school wasn't even on her radar. In her own words, she was too busy and anxious about job-hunting and repaying her student loans. After working in the field, Gorospe decided to take the plunge and applied to the master’s program at TMU. She now views it as the beginning of a life-changing experience that helped her find her ‘voice’. 

Why did you choose TMU for your MSW degree? 

Because of TMU’s commitment to pedagogy that is anti-colonial, anti-racist, and anti-oppressive. One of my favourite memories was an assignment we did entitled "Rest as Entitlement" in Dr. Denise McLane-Davison's Anti-Black Racism class. We learned about rest as a resistance and healing practice in a society which prioritizes capitalism over our humanity. On assignment day, I remember looking around at the joy of my MSW community and just feeling so content and at peace.

Being in community with my professors and peers — some of the best and most brilliant humans — helped me to understand that my racialized, immigrant, femme, survivor voice matters in the very academic spaces that my ancestors wouldn't have been allowed in. I learned to see myself as a scholar, to be bold in “speaking truth to power” and dreaming of something different: A present and futures where we are free.  

“Grad studies at TMU was my first time experiencing such a positive, close-knit academic community. I cannot stress this enough to current and future MSW students: community is vital to our work; community care is anti-oppressive practice!” 

What are your best memories from your grad school experience at TMU?

Without the MSW community, I would not have made it through graduate school. Our professors are each so brilliant, caring, and dedicated to our learning. I also leaned on my peers to deepen my understanding of course readings, workshop ideas, and to just get through the joys and challenges of being a graduate student. On our first day, I looked around and whispered, "Everyone is so cool!". I felt humbled and honoured to be part of a community of such brilliant scholars. 

Inspired by Dr. Denise McLane-Davison's scholarship and mentorship, three of my peers and I formed a circle of friendship and community care. We submitted a proposal to a national social work conference, got accepted, and facilitated a Conversation Circle (a group discussion for reflective self-study and collective reckoning)! We wrote our research papers together, cheered each other on throughout the MSW, and have kept in touch as we braved the post-graduation job search. I feel tremendous love and gratitude towards my peers and I am so proud of all we have accomplished together. 

What topic did you explore in your research? 

I have seldom seen myself and my people represented in academia. I don't often find research created by us, for us. I dream of social work research that gives voice to marginalized lived experiences. So, I chose to explore gender-based violence in immigrant Filipino communities. As a racialized Filipino immigrant woman, I wrote my major research paper as an offering to my people and my homeland. It emerged out of my deep love for the Filipino people and my hope for our healing and liberation from colonial oppression and violence in all its forms. Through this project, I sought to un-map the role of structural oppression in the making of (a) our storied lives, and (b) our experiences of how gender-based violence is inflicted and endured. 

I dedicated my paper to my mama and grandmothers, and to survivors of gender-based violence. It is my fervent hope that a Filipino woman survivor will read my research and see herself reflected in literature. I hope survivors who inhabit all intersections encounter this offering and feel seen, believed, and loved. Our lives — our stories, survivorship, resistance and healing — matter! 

I’m also proud of receiving the FCS Dean’s Graduate Writing Award for my work. I would like to express my immense gratitude to my graduate supervisor, Dr. Gordon Pon, who was unfailingly generous in kindness, support, and wisdom throughout the process! 

What advice would you give to graduate students?

Doing your MSW could just be about getting through your classes and earning your degree — and that's okay. After all, a lot of us are earning an MSW to open up more doors for our careers. But it could also be a deeper, richer experience — more than just assignments or grades. You can choose to be open, braver, more reflexive, and more truthful; to dive deeper into learning, unlearning, and connecting. It was certainly worth it for me, and I hope it will be worth it for you, too!