“My community service initiative for Miss Murray is ‘Let’s Talk Suicide’—which was inspired by some of the classes I’ve taken at the University of Utah. As a social work major, the things I am learning about suicide prevention and crisis intervention really opened my eyes to how much work still needs to be done in the mental health sphere.

I chose social work as my major because I’m a people person and I want to make a difference in the world. In my courses, we talked about the role connection plays in suicide prevention efforts. We also learned about how it’s important to talk about suicide in proper, healthy ways so that people know how to have difficult conversations. I wanted to help more people have this information, so I decided this would be a great platform for me.

In my role, I’ve been able to give presentations to lots of community groups. With younger children, my presentations have focused on things like talking kindly to ourselves and others and checking to make sure our friends are okay. It’s important for mental health conversations to start at a young age. I’ve had people and organizations reaching out to me who want to help and learn more, which is really cool.

It’s really meaningful to share with my community the things I am learning as part of my degree. This work has helped me see how my schoolwork applies to the community at large and I am excited to begin my career when I graduate. While there are lots of jobs I am interested in, ultimately I want to be a part of social work lobbying to help get more legislation passed to address mental health needs. 

As part of Miss Murray, I’ve received a scholarship that is helping me continue my education at the U. Studying at the U and serving as Miss Murray are two very meaningful experiences that are helping me become the best version of myself.”

— Allysa Sullivan, 2024 Miss Murray, junior studying social work