Another Upward Bound Success Story

As Christine Jackson prepares for midterms in Harcum College’s Business Program, she reflects on her Harcum College journey and the impact one service program can have on a family.

When Ms. Jackson’s daughter, Alexis, joined the Upward Bound program in ninth grade, she was ecstatic. Even though it meant Alexis had to spend her summers at Harcum and away from home, she knew her daughter was being given the opportunity to be the first in the family to go to college.

For years, Christine Jackson wanted to go to college. To be a good mother requires that you defer many of your own needs and desires in favor of the needs of your children. The reality and challenge of having to work full-time and raise four children put this dream on the back burner. Like any great parent, Christine Jackson wanted to make sure that her children were able to have what she didn’t.

As Alexis’ senior year approached, Ms. Jackson saw shifts in her daughter. “She became much more outspoken and sure of herself because of Upward Bound. I saw how excited Lex was getting while visiting colleges and preparing her applications and she would turn around and encourage me to also apply. “’Mom, you can do this,’ she would say. I began to think about how great it would be; the two of us in school at the same time… Then when I voiced my dream of going to college to Ms. Liz, she became so excited. Upward Bound gave the final nudge and nerve I needed.”

“Ms. Jackson was not just a mother to Alexis, she was also a mother figure for all of our students and even for our staff,” said Liz Walker, Director of Harcum’s Upward Bound. “She is the kind of parent who takes such good care of her children, who is always there to support the program and anything we need; she’s the kind of person you want to do anything for because she deserves it. She’s an exceptional woman. I was so excited because I knew Harcum College was the perfect place for her to start her academic career.” So, in the spring of 2015, as Alexis graduated from Upward Bound with a 3.1 GPA and acceptance letters to 8 colleges, Ms. Jackson enrolled in Harcum College’s Business Program.

While Upward Bound’s primary goal is for students to graduate high school and attend college, the ultimate aim is to shift the educational environment and attainment within families and the at-risk communities they live in. So, although inspiring parents to attend college is not an outcome recorded in the Upward Bound Annual Performance Report (APR), it deserves to be acknowledged and honored. Similarly, when we call Harcum, the College of Possibilities, these are the stories we have to highlight, because traditional data reports will not reflect them.

“As a parent, the thing I love about Ms. Jackson and Alexis’s story,” said Raymond Curry, Harcum’s Academic Coordinator for Upward Bound, “is that when we do our jobs right as parents, our children will inspire us to become better. It’s never just a one way street.” One of the core values Harcum College Upward Bound (HCUB) emphasizes to its participants is family and accountability. “This is a great example of why we consider ourselves a family, here,” said Quadera Ball, Harcum’s Recruitment Specialist for Upward Bound, “Because we are all invested in the success of each other. When one of us succeeds, we recognize that it’s a win for all of us.”

So far, both Ms. Jackson and Alexis are doing well in school. Ms. Jackson has promised to return to HCUB to help facilitate future workshops and activities. “My eight-year-old daughter, Ilan is looking forward to attending Upward Bound and going to college.” Ms Jackson concluded, “So really this is just another beginning.”