KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Daijah Angelica Nabors didn't know much about the University of Tennessee until she started high school. But growing up, she always embodied the Volunteer Spirit.
"The school was about volunteering," she said. "I did a lot of that already, so I felt like it matched very well."
For her, the University of Tennessee was a perfect fit — especially its College of Social Work.
"During my childhood, a social worker misrepresented my family and didn't connect us to resources that could've gotten us out of a bad situation sooner," Daijah Nabors said. "I just think about all the families that I can help that were in a similar situation to me."
She also loved volunteering in her high school's guidance office.
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"They weren't social workers, but a lot of work they did to connect underserved youth to college really inspired me," she said. "When I got into the major, I realized this is where I was meant to be all along."
In college, Daijah's previous experience drew her to an internship at Austin-East Magnet High School. She worked with Project GRAD and helped students process the loss of their classmates.
"It's like a family to me there," she said. "I felt like [the students] needed someone like me and my other co-intern to be able to talk to them and really hear them."
As she gets ready for her next steps, she's leaving her students with encouragement to take their own.
"Anybody can do that as long as they believe in themselves and they know that everything comes from within," Daijah Nabors said. "Something that I live by is 'Against all odds she shall persevere.'"
Daijah is currently looking for jobs in the Houston area. She's hoping to work for a nonprofit or as a college liaison, similar to the work she's been doing here.