When I was in 9th grade, school administrators sat me down and told me that I was stealing an education. I was an honor student, filled with ambition and potential, yet these adults in power insisted that I was unworthy.
An experience that shaped who I am today
I had been attending public schools in an affluent district for three years. After which, I transferred midway through my ninth grade year to a different district with fewer resources. At the news of my transfer, I begged my grandparents to let me finish the school year before transferring, and they granted my wishes by providing me transportation. After a few weeks, my high school grew suspicious about the 1993 rusty Camry dropping me off in a sea of shiny new Volvos, and I was "caught." After an hour of interrogation without my guardians present, school administrators made the decision to immediately dismiss me from the district. I felt criminal and undeserving of opportunity and belonging because I was poor. This newly-developed lack of confidence in my abilities and my self-worth manifested itself every day throughout the rest of my high school experience and has shaped where I am today.
Tiera getting Step Up teens
excited for 6th annual
Shine & Dine on August 11.
Discovering Step Up
When I first came across Step Up a few years ago, I felt deeply connected with the organization and its mission. Step Up is the program I needed in high school. I needed a mentor to help me claim my value and voice. I needed a community to guide me through empowerment and challenge me to reach my potential. Now, I have the privilege of being a mentor and community builder that creates the space other girls need to thrive.
Being a facilitator and mentor for Step Up is highly rewarding. My role is to facilitate discussions and activities that allow teens to discover the power they have within and develop the confidence necessary to actualize it. As a group, we work together to identify hindrances to our success and brainstorm solutions in a positive and encouraging environment. Last year, teens created a photojournalism project "Girls of Step Up" (think Humans of New York). Girls chose a self-image they want to be seen of themselves and practice vulnerability with powerful storytelling. The result was this impressive collection of pictures and stories that embraced the beauty of differences and promoted meaningful connection. Nothing seems impossible when you have a community of diverse women cheering you on.
Creating our best versions and being inspired
Just as we push them, teens challenge facilitators and mentors to be the very best versions of themselves. Not a day goes by where I am not inspired by the girls and the confident young women they're becoming. Step Up has created this culture of living in possibility, and it is a practice that transcends the after school space. I am confident in our ability to move the needle and inspire women and girls to become the leaders of tomorrow. Why? Because we are worthy.
