#IamEOFNJ- EOF Awareness Day!
Sharea Farmer, LCSW (She/her/hers)
CEO & Consultant/Leadership Coach (DEI & Trauma Informed) at RSCWC I help leaders of organizations improve their employee wellness with trauma-focused strategies to boost employee morale, satisfaction, and retention.
"I am not going to college." Those words flowed so easily off my lips when Ms. Wanda Austin asked me about my plans after high school. You see for me, I had bigger worries in my head, like making money to help my family and then getting as far away from New Jersey as possible. I walked away from our discussion and applied to several schools, I got in to each of them and decided college was not a priority for me. Fast forward to literally almost the end of my senior year, a second ask or should I say directive from Ms. Austin. Not sure of her exact words but I know it went something like this...
Ms. Austin: you never applied to Rider, like I asked.
Me: No, I don't think college is what I need right now
Ms. Austin: I set up an interview for you with Rubin Joiner for a program called EOP.
Me: Thanks but maybe next year would be better, I need to work.
Ms. Austin: Apply and go meet him, then we'll talk.
Literally, a few days later I talked with Rubin and was not only starting at Rider but also somehow convinced to start in the summer before freshman year. I am beyond grateful for Ms. Austin's push and then shove in the right direction. Looking back it was the only way this stubborn little know it all would have ever made the right decision.
EOF became more than just money for college. They created friendships that have become family. They have captured my other whole heart and he won't leave Jersey until he feels his work is done.
They helped put me on the path that now allows me to sit on advisory boards for national sexual exploitation and child abuse prevention programs that give me the opportunity to advocate for Black and Latinx girls/women lives, help the city of Philadelphia create plans to decrease the overdose rate of Black and Latinx people, help develop and support programs throughout many public health issues that impact my community, create safe spaces for Black people in workplaces all over the country, provide a therapy and consultation business that has so much more to do... So when an EOF program asks, I find a way to acknowledge, support, and pay homage to the path they set me on. #Iameofnj #RiderEOP #wedonothingalone #IAmMyAncestorsDream
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