In 2010, Ariel Andrews was one of the teens in our RealTalk classes at Tri-Cities High School. She and other students attended more than 20 curriculum based lessons on how to make healthy decisions about their bodies and overall life choices. Inspired by the program’s message, Ariel served as a RealTalk Ambassador and intern and says she remembers everything we taught her—and attributes much of her success and continued education to Future Foundation.
After graduating from Tri-Cities, Ariel received over $150,000 in scholarships and chose to attend Columbus State University, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration, with an emphasis in Management and Human Resources Management with a 3.7 GPA. In the fall of 2015, she will begin pursuing her MBA at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She was granted a graduate assistantship—essentially a full ride. Ariel was offered a full time position at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and will begin on Monday, February 16, 2015 in the Budget and Personnel Department.
During a recent visit to Future Foundation, Ariel told us that she was a pharmacy technician at Publix while attending college. She said that, because so many girls came in for the Plan B drug, she used her RealTalk skills to share what she learned about healthy relationships and risky behaviors during her time in the RealTalk program.
We’re very proud of Ariel and all she has accomplished. Her future looks very bright. We’re also excited that we’re still providing programming in all of Tri-Cities heath classes and equipping hundreds of students with programming that decreases risky behaviors.
As for Ariel, she says she believes in dreams and making those same dreams become reality. “I am dedicated to any and everything that I do, no matter how small or big a task may be,” she says. “I take pride in whatever I do. I am dedicated to giving back to the community that once gave to me. The word ‘cannot’ does not exist in my vocabulary because if I can believe it, then I can achieve it.”