Life After Uplift provides an in-depth look at what Uplift Education alumni experience after graduating and going off into the real world.
In this edition of Life After Uplift, Mariah Steward takes us through her experiences after she graduated and her journey in the early stage of her career.
Mariah, a graduate of Uplift Luna Preparatory, first became interested in education in high school as she experienced how much her teachers valued her and her education. Mariah considers herself as the type of student who always loved learning, and when she made the transition to Uplift Luna during her freshman year, a lot more of her potential started to show.
“The educators at Uplift were very hands-on and involved with you. Not only academically, but emotionally. They really cared about you and wanted you to go off and do great things,” Mariah said. “Having teachers genuinely believe in me really fueled my fire and pushed me to learn more and become a well-rounded scholar.”
Mariah credits exposure to college as a high school freshman as one of the fundamental reasons she was determined to go to college.
“I was shocked that I was being introduced to the idea of college so early. I had never heard anyone talk about it before I joined Uplift,” Mariah said. “It made me feel good about myself and boosted my confidence as a student.”
When it came time to go off to college, Mariah’s RTCC counselor was very involved in the process.
“It was great to have a college counselor assist you and take some of the workload off you as a senior/junior; it is very stressful trying to keep your grades up and doing everything to get ready for college,” Mariah said.
Her road from being an Uplift Luna scholar to returning as a teacher went through Austin College, a small liberal arts school located in Sherman, TX.
“I had planned to do the psychology route, but then I took one education class, and I was hooked,” Mariah said. “I started talking to my previous teachers at Uplift, and they all encouraged me to give it a shot.”
Mariah is currently in her first year as a 6th-grade math teacher at Uplift Luna Middle School.
“The support as a first-year teacher is genuine; they really want to see me succeed, and I could not imagine going anywhere else and receive this kind of support,” Mariah said. “I loved being a student at Uplift, so I told myself I need to go back and be an Uplift teacher.”
Mariah hopes to spread her joy of learning to her scholars, much like her previous teachers did for her.
“I really love Uplift because I love seeing how devoted the teachers are and how they want their scholars to succeed,” Mariah said.
Are you an Uplift Alumni who wants to be featured on Life After Uplift? Please email us at marketing@uplifteducation.org. We would LOVE to share your story with all our scholars, families, alumni, and staff!
