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Inaugural class of specialized disability advocates and counselors graduate from USF

Leah Howes, Rachquel Macmillian, Mirna Garcia

Leah Howes, Rachquel Macmillian, and Mirna Garcia are some of the first graduates of the program.

A special group of students was among USF鈥檚 2,612 graduates who were honored during the Summer 2024 commencement ceremonies: the first-ever class of the Master of Arts in Rehabilitation Counseling and Disability Sciences (RCDS). While they are unique in their own ways, all four of the program鈥檚 graduates have one thing in common: they are dedicated to improving the lives of others, particularly those living with disabilities. 
 
The fully-online RCDS program prepares students to work with individuals with physical, mental, emotional, and chemical disabilities. By the end of the program, graduates are on track to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families. However, even before commencement ceremonies began in the Yuengling Center, many of them had already started making a difference in their communities. 
 
Mirna Garcia, MS, is a certified assistive technology instructional specialist (CATIS) and worked at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind teaching technology to blind people during her time in the program. Garcia, who is also blind, wants to make sure that individuals living with visual impairments can have the same access to technology as sighted people. 
 
鈥淎 lot of the time when clients lose their sight, they lose themselves because they lost the freedom that they used to have,鈥 said Garcia. 鈥淐ounselors can not only provide clients with the tools that they need to get back to work, but with the confidence.鈥 

Mirna Garcia with Brandon and Leah Worthey on Microsoft Teams

Mirna Garcia meets with program faculty Brandon and Leah Worthey on Microsoft Teams.

This degree also prepared Garcia to pass the examination to become a certified rehabilitation counselor, a licensing that opens doors to various agencies serving people with disabilities, both locally and nationally. With this certification, she started a new job at the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation and is working toward her mission of restoring hope for her clients. 
 
鈥淚 really believe that a rehabilitation counselor provides more hope because they're not so focused on the problems,鈥 said Garcia. 鈥淭hey're focused on finding the client鈥檚 potential, their inner resources to eventually help them flourish.鈥 
  
Rachquel McMillian has also been helping people flourish and has been since her early 20s. She works as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, a career in which she advocates for and empowers her clients to attain and maintain employment. Although she returned to school to advance in her career, her purpose for disability advocacy lies much closer to home. McMillian is a single mother of two boys and caretaker of her mother, who is diagnosed with schizophrenia.  
 
鈥淚'm doing this for my family and for my community to help them learn because I'm African American, and in our culture, it is not very well known for people to go into mental health awareness,鈥 said McMillian. 
 
Leah Howes, who wasn鈥檛 sure what she wanted to do as she was nearing the end of her undergraduate degree at USF, saw an announcement about the RCDS program shared by the Department of Psychology and knew it was made for her. 
 
鈥淚 loved the idea of a virtual master鈥檚 program, I already loved USF, and I have a passion for disability advocacy and helping others, so I knew it was the right choice,鈥 said Howes. 鈥淓ach class gave me valuable knowledge and perspective about the rehabilitation field and the disability community.鈥 
 
The graduates gathered online for a commencement celebration on Friday, alongside program faculty. During the meeting, Leah Worthey, PhD, an assistant professor of instruction in the program, shared her amazement with the current graduating class, applauding them for their constructive feedback and preparedness for their futures.

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The Mission of the College of Behavioral and Community Sciences (CBCS) is to advance knowledge through interdisciplinary teaching, research, and service that improves the capacity of individuals, families, and diverse communities to promote productive, satisfying, healthy, and safe lives across the lifespan. CBCS envisions the college as a globally recognized leader that creates innovative solutions to complex conditions that affect the behavior and well-being of individuals, families, and diverse communities.