STEP Alum Faith Manley participated in the program in the 2022-2023 Academic Year and describes herself as a reliable support system for her loved ones, quiet, an animal lover, and a fashion enthusiast. She has four guinea pigs and outside of STEP Academy, she spends her time volunteering at the ASPCA further demonstrating her love of animals. Her favorite subjects in school are Spanish and Art. However, Faith’s future goal is to obtain a PhD in Psychology and become a licensed therapist. She is especially interested in the intersection of criminal psychology and mental health and hopes to eventually open up a practice to serve folks who are incarcerated and may need additional support due to their mental health challenges. She also would like to gain some experience in this field by working in government agencies such as the FBI or CIA.
Persuaded by another friend who also attends STEP, Faith joined the program to obtain an academic experience that resembles college coursework. Faith describes that simply being on a college campus and inside a college classroom has benefitted her and helped her envision her future college trajectory. Her favorite courses were psychology and bioethics. Psychology has always been her passion as she thoroughly enjoyed her psychology seminar and connecting with her instructor who even helped her navigate a personal challenge through the lens of psychology. Bioethics was an unfamiliar subject for her but she loved exploring a new content area. She also emphasized that she enjoyed all the workshops provided by the program as she gained significant knowledge about the college experience and how to best prepare for it.
Faith is now attending American University in Washington, DC! She spoke candidly of her anxieties as she nears the end of her high school experience and needs to prepare for college. She understands that the workload will be intense and worries that she might not find her community and social networks as easily. Having said that, she expects a fun and engaging experience that will help her reach her professional goals. We hope Faith is having a great time at the American University!
Baruch STEP Academy 