A Keuka College field placement helping young people at Camden Life Center turned into a part-time job and changed one student's plans for a career in mental health.
Cecelia Furbeck, a junior studying psychology in the college's clinical counseling pathway, began the experience considering a future as a child psychologist. Work with local children and teenagers drew her toward social work, according to Keuka College.
Known as Cece, Furbeck served as a youth engagement coordinator during her Field Period experience. She worked with about five to 12 middle and high school students a day through an open-door program offering activities, meals and access to support.
The center's youth work includes recreation, athletics and crafts, as well as counseling resources. Its broader services help adolescents and adults dealing with needs such as food insecurity, substance use and mental health concerns.
Furbeck helped build a community calendar and organize a week of “Adulting 101” activities. The practical lessons included banking, automobile care and cooking, connecting everyday skills with the center's work supporting young people.
A placement becomes continuing work
After the Field Period ended, the center hired Furbeck part time. Director Jessica Perusse said Furbeck's work with the peer supporters who run the youth program helped lead to the job.
Perusse said Furbeck brought a useful connection to the community while handling the confidentiality required in a setting where people may already know one another. Perusse regularly supervises graduate social work interns, making Furbeck's undergraduate experience a different point of entry into the center's work.
The college described Furbeck's interest in helping young people as rooted partly in her own family experience. The youngest of six children, she saw two older siblings struggle with substance use and mental illness.
That background helped shape her interest in early intervention. The work at Camden Life Center gave her a closer view of how support can reach children and teenagers before problems become more difficult to manage.
The experience also clarified the kind of professional role she wants to pursue. Instead of concentrating only on a future in child psychology, Furbeck is now interested in social work and the range of needs that can shape a young person's life.
Perusse said she would welcome Furbeck back after graduation. For now, Furbeck is continuing the part-time work that grew out of her Keuka placement.
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