Written by Carter Thweatt // Photo courtesy of Ashel Parsons
The purpose of Harding’s Upward Bound program is motivating high schoolers to complete a college education. However, Stephanie O’Brian said the program goes much deeper than that.
“Eighty-two percent of our students would be the first person in their family to go to college and come from lower-income households,” O’Brian said. “So part of our job is to help get them into college, but to me, my favorite part of my job is helping them become the very best version of themselves.”
The Upward Bound program helps high school students, primarily those from disadvantaged backgrounds, by giving them the tools necessary to pursue a university degree. During the school year, this takes the form of 12 Saturday sessions in which students receive ACT prep, tutoring and lunch in the Harding cafeteria. During the summer, Upward Bound’s 65 students will attend a six-week summer camp on Harding’s campus designed to mimic the college experience. Junior Allie Nesbitt has worked the summer academy for the past two summers and said she always finds herself inspired by the kids in the program.
“I really enjoy it,” Nesbitt said. “It doesn’t feel like a job to me. What’s so cool to me about these kids is that they choose to sacrifice most of their Saturdays, and six weeks of their summer, to come and take classes to achieve their goals.”
One of those who has gone through the Upward Bound program and now attends Harding is freshman Daicy Martinez. The examples she gave highlighted not only how Upward Bound helped her get into college, but how to succeed there as well.
“One of the biggest impacts was the preparatory classes they offer for the ACT,” Martinez said. “We learn how to tackle each section of the ACT, and that truly helps us succeed. Due to that prep, I made a 31 on the ACT and was nominated and picked for the Trustee Scholarship at Harding. I am eternally grateful to have had the opportunity to be in Upward Bound, and I would do it a million times again.”
Besides the academic impacts, Martinez also noted that Upward Bound gave her something more valuable: an encouraging and intentional community.
“The program gave me a second community that encouraged and supported me from day one,” Martinez said. “Through summer academy, I strengthened relationships with people I already knew, and I met a ton of people that I still keep in touch with now that I’m out of the program.”
O’Brian echoed the same sentiment — while Upward Bound does help students with academics and motivation, the family-oriented feel is what truly makes the program special.
“A lot of our kids will text us all the time and talk to us all the time,” O’Brian said. “And so we get to navigate these really tumultuous teenage years alongside them. We are truly a family, and I love that so much.”
