By Shawn Hogendorf, Correspondent 

When Michael Benjamin graduated as valedictorian of the Prior Lake High School class of 1993, he was also voted, “most intelligent” “most likely to succeed” and “most likely to change the world.”

As Benjamin moved on from high school to become a social worker, his motto, “What happens within the walls of your own home is the most important work you will ever do,” became a sentence he took with him in every facet of his life.

Although Benjamin was involved in a variety of activities and sports in high school, he said his work with Students Offering Support (SOS) had the biggest impact on his career, his humanitarian work and his professional success as a social worker.Michael Benjamin

“Being a member of SOS taught me good listening, empathy, communication and problem-solving skills, which I use in my current job as a therapist,” Benjamin said. “I learned the importance of reaching out to others in need. I saw the power of emotional healing that occurs through support, talking and caring for others.”

Over the years, Benjamin found a way to combine his love of helping others with his passion for theater. Benjamin is not only a licensed clinical social worker for Terry Reilly Health Services in southwestern Idaho; he is also a registered play therapist who provides specialized therapy to children through plays using toys, games, puppets and art.

In his career, Benjamin assists the less fortunate by providing information about medical, dental and mental health services to families with low incomes and no insurance. A large part of the population in southwest Idaho consists of migrant and seasonal farm workers, so Benjamin provides bilingual mental health services at two different rural health clinics.

“The majority of my job is to provide therapy to individuals such as children, adolescents and adults, as well as couples and families who are suffering from emotional problems, mental illness and trauma,” Benjamin said.

Benjamin also works at integrated medical and mental health clinics to provide crisis intervention, consultation, and social and referral services for medical doctors.

“I help link patients to needed social services in the community,” Benjamin said. “I also work as part of a mental health outreach team, doing community presentations about mental health to educate and break down stigmas.”

Benjamin moved from his parents’ Prior Lake home to Utah to attended Brigham Young University (BYU) after high school. As an award-winning actor in high school plays and the recipient of a college scholarship from the Prior Lake Players, Benjamin declared a theater and film major his first year at college.

But that first year, Benjamin decided to go on a mission trip to Ecuador with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Following the mission trip from 1994 to 1996, Benjamin headed back to BYU and changed his major to pre-med.

“After seeing people living in extreme poverty and struggling in life financially, emotionally and physically, I decided to major in pre-med because I wanted to help others,” Benjamin said. “Later on, I realized many physical conditions have an emotional or social component to them. I (realized I) could help people in a more holistic, bio-psycho-social approach.”

So after one semester as a pre-med major, Benjamin changed his major again to social work. Benjamin received his social work degree from BYU in 1999.

“It just clicked with me,” Benjamin said. “It seemed like everything in life including many high school experiences led me to that point. It was like all the pieces of the puzzle in my life had fallen together.”

After graduating from college, Benjamin worked as a child protective services investigator for a year before heading back to school to receive a master’s degree in social work from BYU in 2002.

Although being a part of SOS played a large role in Benjamin’s life, it didn’t totally define him as a high school student.

Benjamin was an officer in band, playing trumpet and French horn. He participated in six high school plays, speech team, chess club, knowledge bowl, math league, was a class officer, Students Offering Support (SOS), the National Honor Society and the high school newspaper. Benjamin was also a member of the swimming, cross country and track teams.

Benjamin currently lives in Caldwell, Idaho with his wife and three children, ages 9, 8 and 4.

 Shawn Hogendorf can be reached at shogendorf@swpub.com.