Achiever Stories

Mills College Upward Bound and Beyond. 

Christopher Harrison inspired attendees at the WESTOP Achievers luncheon during the Hollywood conference. The audience included his wife and children, 500 conference attendees, and high school participants who were there as TRIO ThinkQuest trainers. What follows is his nomination submitted by Romeo Garcia, director of TRIO programs at Mills College.

Chris was an excellent student who excelled academically and was a leader when he went to middle school.  But without a positive role model and an academic focus, Chris, like many of his peers, started down a path of self-destruction.  Chris became involved in the life of the streets.  For a period of time, he became a drug dealer, dealing small amounts of crack in his neighborhood.  Chris said, “Hey, that’s how to get a girlfriend.  I won’t do it that much.  I don’t want to become another Al Capone, just enough to have a little money in my pocket.”  This quote appeared on the front page of the Oakland Tribune on December 9, 1991.  Chris entered the Mills College Upward Bound Program as a high school sophomore.  He credits his turn around to his faith, his mother and Mills College Upward Bound.

Chris recalls his mother saying, “If you are going into the gutter, I am coming in after you.”  Those were the exact sentiments of the Upward Bound Program.  The program saw in Chris, limitless intellect and talent and was committed to doing all that they could to keep him off the streets.  “Quitting dealing was a burden off me,” he said.  “The pores just opened up… I knew what I was doing was wrong.  I couldn’t face up to my mother.  Your conscience can mess with you.”  From that time on, Chris has moved forward (Upward) and has never gone back to the streets, except to lift someone else up.  Like the older drug dealers that told Chris to “Get off the block… this life ain’t for you.  Go to school for us, too.” Chris has lifted many of the students in the Oakland community from the gutter or away from the edge so that they can realize their talents and restore their faith that life can be rewarding without living the fast and dangerous life on the streets.

Chris recalled one day while at Morehouse when he was sitting on his bed in his dormitory.  He was thinking about leaving school to go back to Oakland to help his mother who was going through hard times with his sister (who is also an Upward Bound Alumna, graduating from CSU, Chico in June).  He was struggling a bit in school and thought leaving would be the best thing to do.  He recalls suddenly hearing Romeo’s voice saying to him, “Chris, get up and go to class!”  At that moment he knew that the right choice was to stay in school and finish what he started so that he could do even more for his family in the future.  After graduating from Morehouse, Chris worked at the Holy Names College Upward Bound program as the Academic Coordinator.  Chris’ commitment to TRIO participants, extended beyond his day-to-day duties with the students.  He was an excellent and knowledgeable mentor to the students, having grown up in the same community and attended the high school that the program was serving.

Chris has a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Morehouse College, Atlanta, GA, and a Master of Arts and Teaching Credential, Mills College, Oakland, CA.  Currently, he is pursuing and Ed.D in Educational Leadership at Mills College.  Chris conducted research for his Master’s Thesis, Understanding Self-Motivated Learning of Math in the Context of an Upward Bound Experience (2003), focusing on the Mills College Upward Bound Program.  His research interest was a qualitative case study of four high school students conducted to explain how students become self-motivated to learn mathematics as a result of their participation in the Mills College Upward Bound Program.  His findings were valuable to the program in h elping to identify the practices which enhanced the students’ interests and abilities to learn math.  Chris taught math for the Mills College Upward Bound Program for three years and is still involved with the program as an independent consultant, providing workshops for parents in the Educational Talent Search Program.  He is always available to speak to students as a group or on an individual basis.

While continuing his graduate work, Chris is teaching math at a public high school, building an educational consulting business with his wife, Nneka, raising his children and impacting the lives of other people’s children.  Chris is a leader in the community and deserving of recognition as a WESTOP TRIO Achiever.  Being an Upward Bound participant had, and is still having, a positive impact on Chris’ life.  In return, Chris continues to do great things for Upward Bound and the TRIO community.~~~

Read about other achievers Wendy Sanchez, Hazel Amina, Sunshine Lawson, Jennifer Dyke, Laura Ochoa, and Michael Christiansen.

If you have a story about a participant or staff achiever, send it to Dave Ferguson. The person does not have to be nominated for the WESTOP Achievers Award. He or she is a person, in your eyes, whose story is inspirational. Afterall, if we don't tell the stories of our participants and staff, who will?

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