Ivy Elwell M.S.S. '23 Goes from Stage to Service

Growing up in a big family in Iowa, Ivy Elwell’s earliest memories are of singing in the choir and performing in community plays.

She couldn’t have articulated it as a child but, she says, “I gravitated to acting because I have always felt emotions deeply, and been really in tune with other people’s emotions.” So it was no surprise that, when it came time to make college plans, she decided to pursue a bachelor in fine arts in acting.

After graduating from Boston University, she headed to New York and got involved with theater, film, and television work—picking up side gigs as a waitress, a babysitter, and a hostess along the way.

Juggling her many roles, she started to notice a pattern. “I saw that people in my industry and the families I was working with, too, were just not doing well,” she says. “And I found myself caring so deeply about people’s wellbeing—how they were struggling and how their family dynamics were changing, along with their mental health.”

When the pandemic and, with it, the unrest around social justice hit our country in full force, Elwell felt she was at a crossroads. Talking to her therapist one day, it hit her: “I want to do what you do,” she said. “I saw the importance of her work. I have been lucky to have really high-quality mental health services and I really believe that every person should have that same access.”

Her realization set off a research expedition to find a graduate program that would be the right fit for her. She scoured the internet, considering programs in the United States and around the world. But something jumped out at Elwell when she found Bryn Mawr’s Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research (GSSWSR): its embrace of career-changers.

“Whereas other programs I was considering made me feel like I had to fit into their mold, Bryn Mawr welcomed my background, and what I could bring to their program and the field,” Elwell says.

She attended one of Bryn Mawr’s career-changers workshops for potential applicants and “it just felt like another piece sliding into place.”

What sealed the deal for her was her interview with graduate admissions. “It felt like it was as much about me figuring out if the program was right as the admissions counselor figuring out if I was right for the program,” Elwell says. “She was great about answering my questions without judgment and with creativity.”

Ultimately, Elwell enrolled in the full-time, two-year program.

In addition to her classroom work, Elwell found her internship experiences particularly meaningful.. First, she worked in a school setting, supporting students with autism spectrum disorder. Next, she worked at a center for eating disorders. Now, she works at the Center for Families, in suburban Philadelphia, in their Nourish Program—working with adolescents with co-occurring mental health, substance use, and/or disordered eating. “I find myself being stretched and challenged every day,” she says. “It’s amazing.”

And has she translated her skills as a performer into her work after all? “Absolutely. In both roles, you have to get to know people personally, very quickly, and form a bond and learn to trust one another. And you have to listen really carefully,” she says. “So many of the natural skills that have drawn me to acting are skills that I use in my work with my clients.”

Elwell recognizes that while her puzzle has come together, being a career-changer can feel overwhelming. “It’s hard. I never could have imagined that I would be where I am today. But Bryn Mawr takes such a personal approach, and made me see that the path was really wide open ahead of me.”