Future School Counselor

Mariah Price grew up on the South Side of Chicago and currently resides in the Woodlawn neighborhood. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology/Counseling with a minor in behavioral science in 2021. Mariah is currently studying to get her master’s degree in school counseling at National Louis University. She also is an Elementary Program Director at Sunshine Gospel Ministries. 

Mariah’s inspiration for studying psychology was because “I always knew that I wanted to work with people and was interested in how people work. When I was in college, my major was psychology, and it was a few classes that showed me counseling was the way I wanted to go. It wasn’t until I started working at Sunshine that I wanted to pursue school counseling to work in a school setting,” said Price. Mariah has been involved with Sunshine since between the ages of nine and ten by going to their Summer camp a few times. She mentioned that from that time through high school, it sparked her inspiration to work with youth because “ I had a lot of mentors that I called my village who would pour into me and guide me, so I wanted to be the same thing for kids,” said Price.

One obstacle Mariah faced during her undergraduate experience was “I started in my college at a predominantly white institution in Indiana in the middle of nowhere, I wasn’t used to being the minority, that experience was different and harder for me to adjust academically and socially,” said Price. However, Mariah felt supported by her support system back at home including Pursue. She felt supported by Pursue because “being able to have people back home, the college visits and the care packages may seem small but it went a long way."

Another obstacle Mariah faced was “financial because I paid my way through college, so being supported by Pursue was helpful. Also, because I went to a Christian college and I felt like my spiritual walk was always being tested, I wasn’t used to being around a lot of people so advanced in their faith. I felt like Pursue allowed us opportunities to grow, they were there for spiritual support, they gave us Bibles and journals, I think spiritually they helped me navigate some difficulty I had,” said Price. 

As Mariah described her experience and how much Pursue supported her as a student, she mentioned how that support continued in her adult life and provided her with lifetime mentors. One mentor that she gained from Pursue was “April, and we are still in touch to this day, although she’s not at Pursue anymore. I believe she was the only lady on staff there at the time, so having another Black woman who’s older than me and someone that I looked up to who was very influential. During the first retreat, she had cooked for us the whole time, and I admired and appreciated her hospitality and peaceful aura about herself. My other two are Derick and Kevin. Derick was always supportive and there if I needed him. I appreciated that support from him and him being himself. Kevin was the same way, and I felt intentionality from all of them, but specifically from Kevin. Being the founder of Pursue, he never made me feel like I was beneath him, he was very much involved and got to know us on a personal level,” said Price. 

Since Mariah graduated in 2021, she has been intentional about reinvesting and being involved in her community. Mariah sees her involvement with working with youth as a way to re-invest in the future because “children today are our future, and I think it’s important to use the gifts and talents we have to make the world a better place. I think pouring into our children is important because one day, they will be in our shoes; they will be our changemakers. Just because they are kids, we shouldn’t look at them as kids who may not know any better. It’s important to plant the seeds now, so when they are older, they can make a change,” said Price.