Thank you so much for your support and prayers within the last month, here’s an update on how things have been going throughout the month of July…
Last Month’s Ministry Letter Recap: What is my North Star?
Empowering young Black students to realize their strength, who then empower others to realize theirs.
Upward Bound Summer Institute
A couple of months ago, while I was a Resident Assistant at UMass, my boss asked me this question…
“Have you ever considered working for Upward Bound?”
Upward Bound is a year-round, federally sponsored, educational program serving high school students who come from families in which neither parent has a bachelor's degree, and/or qualify as low-income. The goal of Upward Bound is to increase the rate at which participants successfully complete high school, and also increase participant likelihood to enroll in and graduate from college.
Hence, after explaining all of this to me, my boss ended the conversation by stating, “I think Upward Bound aligns a lot with your interests. Maybe it’s something worth looking into.” And long story short, through that one little conversation, I was skeptical at first, but ended up applying to be the Assistant Residential Supervisor for UMass Amherst’s Upward Bound Summer Institute; and as you might have anticipated by now, by God’s grace, I was accepted and welcomed onto the staff team.
Upward Bound Summer Institute Photos
Working With The Students
On July 7th, 2024, the summer institute was off. I remember watching the yellow school bus pull in as 30 students began to frantically unload their belongings into the dormitory. It was a beautiful moment. Every student was different, be it the items they brought, the emotions they were feeling, or even the positionally that they held coming into the program. Many of the students had been through the summer institute before, while others were brand new. Likewise, some students had recently immigrated to the US, and others described upbringings involving DCF (the Department of Children and Families). Hence, the variety within the room was beautiful, and it was a blessing to consider how all of this erupted from a conversation with my residential director.
Upward Bound Summer Institute Residential Staff Team
Nonetheless, with all of this being said, as recent as all of this might sound, the summer institute ends next week; and come August, I will be undergoing the last summer ministry stretch as I prepare to be fully equipped and ready for the start of the academic year.
Yet, all in all it’s been an honor to work with Upward Bound this summer, and although I don’t necessarily know what God has in store for me in a year from now, I am grateful for the lessons that I learned, the people that I met, the experiences that I’ve had, and the youth in all of their capacities. Anyway, I probably could write a whole lot more about some of the stories from these last couple of weeks; but in the interest of time, if you’re curious just reach out to me! Regardless, I’m excited to apply everything that I’ve learned from Upward Bound into my future endeavors, and maybe I’ll even see some of the students enrolled at UMass one day!
Praise Report
During my last ministry update I asked for y’all to be prayerful about my housing situation for the fall and for my vehicle situation, and not only did God answer one of those prayers but he answered BOTH! By God’s grace I have signed my lease and will be living with my friend Stanley, during the academic year at a little house close to UMass. AND by God’s grace I have also signed my paperwork and will be driving around campus in a used Ford Escape during the academic year. So once again, THANK YOU so much for your prayers and support throughout this entire process! The Lord has been so good, and I’m grateful to have those challenges out of the way!
Numbers Update
We’re a little over halfway through the summer and we’ve reached a little over halfway in reaching my support goal (54% of the way there)! Once again, I am incredibly grateful for everyone who’s felt led to pray, give, reference someone, and/or support me in other ways! I truly cannot do this alone, so thank you again for joining this team!
Also, I’ve been spending a lot of time on thank you cards, so expect something to come in the mail soon! Upward Bound has been keeping me busy so sorry about the delay!
Support Tracker
My Prayer Requests
1. Continued trust and patience within this Ministry Partner Development season.
2. Divine connections, that I may continue to meet new people and share with them about this ministry.
3. For the students and staff within the Upward Bound program, that they may build deeper relationships with Jesus.
4. The returning and incoming students who I will be working with at UMass come the fall.
Thank you again for being apart of this team! Expect another update within the coming weeks!
