For many, but especially first-generation and low-income students, the transition to college can feel overwhelming. Director of Brandeis Upward Bound Mariama Darboe spoke with The Justice in a May 4 interview about how the program helps Waltham high school students build confidence, prepare for college and envision futures they would have never thought possible. 

The Justice: Could you please tell me a little bit about yourself and how you're involved with Upward Bound?

Darboe: My name is Mariama Darboe. I am the Director of Upward Bound, which is a federally funded program. This is our fourth year at Brandeis University. We work with 60 Waltham high school students to give them all the resources they need to get acceptance to college and to also survive college.

The Justice: What would you say is the overall mission of Upward Bound and what are some ways Upward Bound is working towards those missions? 

Darboe: The overall mission [is to] get students to college [and] get college admissions for first- generation, low income [and] resource-restricted students. We help them with their personal essay writing, we help them with the applications, we take them on college visits, we take them [to] conferences in the Massachusetts area and beyond. We introduce them to mentors at Brandeis University, who get to tutor them at Waltham High School after school for subjects that they're struggling [with]. We have [a] tutor that's most likely first [generation] and low income as well that understands the scope and the demographic of students we serve. 

That Justice also discussed the Upward Bound summer program with Darboe. 

Darboe: We also do a very intensive six weeks programming at Brandeis, so it's usually during the summer. We bring the students on campus and we get them connected to faculty members. We get them connected to mentors, to instructors [and] graduate level instructors. We teach them classes. We also teach them skills that will help them to survive college, which is, for me, one of the most important aspects of this program because their schools already teach them all the academic rigorous work they need. One of the ways we add value is the skill development part, the public speaking, the confidence building, the self-esteem building.

The Justice: Building on that, why do you think it's so important to have a program like this at higher education institutions like Brandeis?

Darboe: Platforms —- higher education institutions like Brandeis have to prioritize not only the integration of this demographic of students into higher education spaces, but also sharing resources that will develop them to be ready for institutions like Brandeis. Brandeis is able to not only provide the space for these high school students to get access to campus, but they also — in a way — partner with us. We have a lot of on-campus group sources that we can lean on to. For example, we've done workshops with the Brandeis admissions team. We've done workshops with student [financial] services, talking about financial literacy, managing aid [and] how to pay loans. 

The Justice: What have been some of your favorite memories or moments where you realized the difference you guys have made? 

Darboe: I have a lot of favorite memories with the Upper Bound students. This year, my favorite activity so far has been the Rising Stars ceremony. This was in partnership with the community connections group, and what we did was we [gave awards to] our seniors that are graduating. So it was 10 seniors, but the award categories were not usually the categories you would find. We [were] awarding students that have been able to persevere on problem solving. It's such a unique criteria. It was really an emotional day … because we saw these students when they came to Upper Bound in freshman year. I came into the program when they, some of them were sophomores, juniors … then fast forward three years later to graduating from the program, and they are able to speak up, and also the other accomplishments that they had. Some of them came into the program as C students and they're graduating with a 4.27 grade point average, and they're getting admission to more than 3 colleges. 

The Justice: Why is it so important to give students a real look at the college experience? 

Darboe: It's important that we give them an opportunity because the goal is to inspire them to come to college. If I give a student a chance to do a residential week at a college institution for a week they get a taste of what it's like to actually be like an independent, responsible adult because that's what college is about: the ability to make decisions. We give them all of these tools. It inspires them to know that this is actually something that's doable, because I think one of the biggest problems we encounter with them applying for college is [that] they're scared. They're scared of leaving families, scared of not having friends in college, scared of failing. There's so much anxiety around the unknown, around the future, around the planning, around things you cannot control. And so showing them what college life could be about or what a hint or a little bit of what that could potentially mean helps with gaining confidence in them overcoming the fears of all of the things they're thinking about.

The Justice: And why do you think that kind of college transition or understanding what it's actually like is so hard for many people? 

Darboe: I can speak to a demographic of students; a lot of parents have to work twice as hard to provide for their kids because they are from low income communities [or] low income families. … Think about a parent that has to deal with four  kids and has to work two jobs. When do you have time to go take your kids to colleges? A lot of parents are not only thinking about, [whether they] should do these trips, but also can we afford to go to these schools. So, … finance is a big part of the conversation of why this is very difficult.

Darboe continued that another reason why the college transition process was so difficult was not having a clear path to follow.

Daboe: And I know one of their reasons why it's so difficult to think you can even come to college because there's not a lot of examples in front of you. You don't have a mom that's educated, you don't have a dad. You don't have a sibling that's educated. You [are] basically breaking a barrier. You are the driving seat of your life, and there's no example and you are the first. That's hard. There's no lesson that you can learn from. You get to make those mistakes for yourself for the first time that other people can learn from in [their] family. 

The Justice: Going more into the summer program, how does that demonstrate a mini college experience and why is that helpful?

Darboe: [Summer] programming is probably one of our most valued programming because, again, the duration is six weeks and it's full time at Brandeis University … We have three different components during the summer program. One is the academic rigorous component, which is the morning part. This is where we bring graduate students, PhD students to teach classes. We usually have three big umbrella classes. We have English, math science, but under that, we try to do different other classes that are not usually taught in schools. So for example, we would do entrepreneurship class with the kids. We will also do filmmaking class, we will do photography class. 

The Justice: What are the other components of the program?

Darboe: In the afternoon, we have extracurricular activities. This is where we have hands-on practical workshops. The kids get to decide what workshop they want to do. [We] just try to facilitate activities that will help them build some kind of financial independence for themselves. So if you choose to go to college and [decide] to do [a photography] business, that will help sustain you and you will help you to be independent. The other component of it is exposure to college-ready material. So we've brought in partners that can teach SAT [and] we've brought in partners for “college 101” days. We try to do a college 101 …  style conference, and this is where we bring in alumni, guest speakers, and they get to inspire students about their college journeys, which is likely first and low-income people as well. 

Upward Bound also offers valuable personal advising.

Darboe: We have different components. This year we added the Saturday [component]. The Saturday component is activity that is mainly at Brandeis University and the students get to come to Brandeis. And that's when we do college readiness activities with our students. And this is why I've already mentioned a partnership with the admissions, the career center, community connections, groups, student financial services. All of those people have partnered with us this Saturday to deliver programming that is academic enrichment programming, also college readiness programming for our students. The other program we have is the afterschool component of the programming, which is at Waltham High School. So after school, we have our peer mentors who are undergraduate students mainly. They go to Waltham High School and they get to deliver homework help, things that can get their students excited as well as ready for the next day. 

The Justice: Does the program help students explore colleges outside of Boston?

Darboe: Every Friday we go on field trips, so we've gone to MIT [and] we've gone to Harvard [University]. Just again, to inspire the students, because we have this self-esteem [issue], this very low self-esteem. A lot of times [students] don't think [they’re] good enough to get into these high league schools or to get into a great college or to even get to a college at all. So giving them that space to explore these colleges, talk to the students in these colleges, talk to the teachers and discuss in these colleges, participate in activities in these colleges, just get them excited about the little things that college life on campus can give you as a person has been really instrumental in what we do for the summer programming. 

The Justice: What concludes the summer program?

Darboe: We do a project showcase at the end of the six weeks, [where] we bring in faculties, staff, friends [and] families to come in and get to see a project that the students usually have accomplished from the six weeks of programming. And that has also been really, really an [valuable] to the programming. This year, especially, we're also trying to include a [career day] event, and that's where we will do a more hands-on activity with different professions. 

The Justice: You mentioned the academic tutoring for students. Why is it important that these students are specifically facilitated by like Brandeis students? 

Darboe: Brandeis is the institution we work with so it's easier. The Brandeis mentors, this specific group of mentors understand the goal of the program, innovation, what we're trying to achieve here. [We think about] who can connect with our students. So it's important to us that we get high achieving Brandeis students because that's the kind of track record we want to build for our students. It's important to us that they all at least understand the struggles of that community. 

The Justice: Why did you decide to join the Upward Bound program and why is it important to you? 

Darboe: In addition to what I said about me being fostered on low income, that's a big part of why I'm here. This is my baby project. This is something that I've been extremely passionate about before here. I was a classroom teacher, and I have seen firsthand what after school programming can do for students because I was part of an after school programming as well. So all of my experiences as a student fuel my passion for this work. I joined this programming in 2023 and I started as a graduate assistant. I started as an instructor. I was teaching classes for Upward Bound and then I assumed the role. I also went to school at Brandeis, so I guess that made it easier to build a connection with Upward Bound. 

Darboe looks back at her time in college for why she’s here today. 

Darboe: The reason why this work is extremely important to me is because I feel like I am doing the work that other people have done for me. I look at my mentors who have dedicated their lives to building young people, to dream big, to become the best fashions of themselves. And I'm like this is what I want to do for the Upward Bound students. When I started up, I had the opportunity of working with Naomi [Brown-Jones], who was the director for Upward Bound before, she's my mentor, [and] has been a support system for me in this role. The idea has always been to create a safe space for these students, and that's something that I'm extremely passionate about. 

Lastly, seeing the firsthand impact is a big reason Darboe took on the role.

Darboe: Seeing that firsthand impact that it's giving to the students, looking at the behind the scenes of it, looking at all the things that we don't get to report onto the government has been something that's extremely impactful to me. So that's why I do this work. I think I gain more than I even give because it's very fulfilling. I get to go to bed smiling at a student who has done this much, a student who's had a scholarship — a full scholarship. Their parents don't have to worry about school with them. It's been a ride, but a very fun ride with the students.

Darboe’s personal journey with her educational background has shown her how important it is to dream bigger. 

Darboe: When I got an opportunity to do my masters, I had an opportunity to only do one masters and be done with it. But I said to myself, because a lot of the people in my community will not even have dreamt of getting a master's degree, I'm not going to stop at a master's. I'm gonna do two masters and I'm also gonna do a PhD. So [with] that mindset, I was able to build that because of an afterschool program. We try to do something [similar] at Upward Bound. We give stipends in addition to all of the programming that we do to just give them something for them to be inspired by — give them something for them to keep getting fueled by. We have graduated over 24 students in the program who 90% of whom are going to college. The success rate of this program is extremely important, and the seeds we're seeing grow right in front of us and that is what makes it powerful. 

The Justice: As an alumni of Brandeis, how do you think that status or that background affects your role? Does it help you to be able to connect the students better? 

Darboe: When I was at The Heller School for Social Policy Management, I was part of this community that was always there to support each other. And these were friends [and] faculty members. It was basically like a family. I wouldn't say it's the only reason why I strive at the work that I do, but I think it adds value in the work that I do because the community there is the type of community I'm trying to build up at Upward Bound. No judgments, just everybody just helping each other to become the best versions of yourself, to boost yourself, to push your confidence, build your skills. It also makes my life easy as director because I've already been able to understand what this campus is like to navigate all of the spaces in this campus and that does give me an additional benefit in this role, because I've met a lot of faculty members and professors who I am able to connect to now to come and be part of the Upward Bound programming. 

The Justice: What do you see for the future of the program? Are there any changes you want to make? 

Darboe: One of the big things that I've started, and I want to keep doing, is the residential programming. Like I said, giving the students that real life experience of exactly what colleges is very important to the work we do is why we're funded to do what we do. This year we're doing just one week of [the] residential program, in the future, I want to see a whole six weeks of residential programming. That's one big plan we have for the future. The other big thing we want to do in the future is to start a scholarship fund as a scholarship account for our students, because right now we're only focused on getting our students to apply for college, getting them accepted to college and giving them the tools and skills they need to survive college. But one of the things they also struggle with is they always come back to us and say, “oh my gosh, there's an admission fee of $500 and I can't [afford] that.” I want Upward Bound with the support of Brandeis University to start a scholarship fund. 

Darboe adds that she hopes to partner with more Brandeis organizations. 

Darboe: Of course, more educational enrichment programming, more partnerships. . . .  Before this year, Upward Bound has never partnered with the career team. We've never partnered with [the] admissions team. The admissions team did not even know that there was a Brandeis Upward Bound program. This year, because of our connection, they are now reviewing them as Brandeis Upward Bound students, which does add value to how they see the students and how they're able to connect with them or how they're able to interact with the materials that the students submit, like their personal statements, as well as their academic papers and recommendations. So building those solid connections, building those partnerships, building those on campus, resources for our students to always have access to has been really amazing. 

Darboe continues.

Darboe: We had one student this year. They had a full ride scholarship to come to Brandeis. That's a win. It's never happened for Upward Bound before. We want to continue doing that. We have 12 students graduating and 11 out of the 12 [are] going to college. The goal is to structure our programming in a way that the students get to come to Brandeis more. So more visibility of our brand, more interactions with students, more college shadowing days. We've had this collaboration where the students are able to sit in the classes that they go to. But I want to make that a more formal thing where we actually have a partnership with the admissions group with the different departments at Brandeis. We do have very big plans and we know they are all achievable with a lot of support from our families, with a lot of consistency from our students, which we already have, and from like-minded staff in our programming.