Julia Caruso '23, an expressive arts therapy major at Lesley, is the winner of the 2020 McKenna Scholarship.
Established by President Emerita Margaret McKenna, the competitive, need-based $5,000 scholarship is given each year to a rising sophomore in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who exhibits a strong commitment to public service and leadership for social change.
Caruso has done volunteer work for almost five years. Before coming to Lesley, she volunteered in her community with her church’s youth group, her school's Amnesty International club, the National Honors Society, Student Council, and Breaking the Barriers, a high school community service and leadership club.
Caruso had her first community outreach opportunity as a freshman in high school when she worked with the homeless community in Boston by handing out toiletries, clothes and food with her youth group. The trip sparked an interest to continue working with populations in need.
“During my junior year, I helped organize a trip with Breaking the Barriers to South Africa, where we also worked with the homeless community,” says Caruso.
Julia Caruso with friends during a service trip in South Africa her junior year of high school.
Now at Lesley, Caruso is involved with Circle of Friends, a club that unites students in Lesley’s Threshold Program with undergraduate and graduate students through events such as apple picking and pumpkin carving.
"I got involved second semester, but unfortunately (due to the coronavirus), that's not really going on right now," she says.
Politics, especially voting rights and voter awareness, are also her passion.
“I’ve had people tell me that I should’ve been a political science major,” she says. In the fall, she helped create the Lesley for Liz club, a student campaign for presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Although the students didn’t have time to become an official Lesley club, they are now transitioning into a voting rights and leadership organization through the Office of Community Service that will begin when on-campus classes resume.
Caruso is also involved in Lesley’s Environmental Club and would like to join the Undergraduate Student Government as well as the Big Brother Big Sister program when she is older.
For Caruso, there seems to be no limit to the number of clubs she is willing to get involved in at a given time. Whether it's helping underprivileged populations, raising awareness about the issues she's passionate about, or just making everyone in her community feel included, Caruso sees no end in sight for helping make the world a better place.