EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was originally published in the February issue of GCU Magazine, which can be viewed digitally.
Photos by Ralph Freso
She ended her pursuit to become a doctor, what she said was expected of many African immigrant children, by remembering what her mother once asked: “Why don’t you try teaching? You love kids.”
On the airplane to see her mom, who grew increasingly ill on a visit to Nigeria last fall, Juliet Awolumate thought of that. She thought of her mother’s
work in a nonprofit to help widows start businesses in their native country. She thought of her mom’s quest for a bachelor’s degree in psychology at Grand Canyon University, where now she was seeking a master’s degree in educational administration as an online student.
So much was linked to her mom and closing the gap between the country she was flying from and one she was flying to.
“Sadly, she died before I landed,” Awolumate said.
“It opened my mind to a lot of things. I hadn’t been home for 14 years,” she said of the family’s move to Texas when she was a child. “So much had changed. Not for the better. People not being able to get a job, not having the educational background. And children who have parents who can’t get work are not able to pay for school.”
Awolumate envisioned a new goal. She would bring the nonprofit she began in Texas to Nigeria.
She did answer her mom’s question and became a math teacher three years ago at Justin F. Kimball High School in Dallas, despite earning a bachelor’s in biology to become a doctor.
“I always wanted to help people. Being a teacher, you are not just a teacher, you are a friend, sister, mom, therapist, nurse – you’re everything.
They saw me as a person. Kids will graduate and say, ‘You are the reason I love math.’ This is my purpose; this is what I am supposed to be doing.”
She wanted to do more.
So Awolumate pivoted a small nonprofit to help the homeless, something she started in college with a friend, to one that could propel women’s education.
She named it after her mother.
Scion of Tabitha launched in 2023 with 13 girls ranging from elementary school to college who are mentored and taught to dream big.
“The goal was to instill confidence and make sure they know the sky is the limit,” she said. “When I started building relationships with the girls, it made me see, wow, these girls need help, they need someone who has their back. They need a community.”
The young women set goals – learn to cook, play basketball or even start a business while in college.
By September, it was well into its first year when Awolumate enrolled at GCU, on the heels of her mother’s quest here and because of its morals and values in the Christian faith that she grew up with.
She wants to expand the Scion of Tabitha and work for the education department in Nigeria, alive with the memories of her mom.
“That is one of the things I am proud of– that she got to see me doing something in honor of her before she left,” Awolumate said. “I will be going back more often. My mom is buried there, and I have to see her, even if she is in the ground.”
Grand Canyon University senior writer Mike Kilen can be reached at [email protected]
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