For Samia Stewart, StreetSquash was a family affair, as she followed in the footsteps of her older brother Sion (Class of 2012). She was 12 years old when she started the program in 2012, and she stuck with it all the way through her senior year of high school.
Her first day walking into the facility was intimidating.
“I’m a very shy individual,” Samia said. “I was pretty nervous honestly.”
But it wasn’t long before Samia felt at home.
“StreetSquash was a place that allowed me to feel a sense of belonging,” Samia said. “It was really cool to be on a team. I had never played a sport before.”
Samia appreciated the opportunity to try something different and really broaden her horizons.
“It was nice being with like-minded people playing something really niche,” Samia added. “I had never heard of squash before my brother started doing it. But it was really cool to be part of something very different.”
Besides the camaraderie and sense of purpose Samia felt inside the StreetSquash facility, she also had the opportunity to travel internationally on multiple occasions throughout the program. She and some teammates went to Cartagena, Colombia, for a service trip, and she went to a squash camp in England for two weeks.
“To not only go out of the country but to go to Colombia for a service trip was really cool,” Samia said.
She was there to help do some repairs to a school and to teach English to the students. Samia and her teammates also played squash with students at Squash Urbano, another Squash and Education Alliance program located there.
While in England, Samia experienced superior squash.
“The level of squash in England at the time was a lot higher than in New York,” Samia said. “I was really grateful to play with people way better than me. I was definitely feeling self-conscious about my own skills, but it was a learning experience.”
Following her high school graduation, she went to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she majored in forensic psychology and minored in law. Now, Samia is a graduate student at John Jay working towards her master’s in forensic mental health counseling.
As part of her graduate program, she’s interning at an agency in the Bronx that helps incarcerated individuals at Riker’s Island get access to services they will need upon their release.
Her goal after graduation is to become a licensed mental health counselor.
Samia says her time at StreetSquash was very helpful for her in developing meaningful relationships.
“It’s very hard for me to open up to people,” Samia said. “But being able to work with other kids and play something together helped me to be more socially aware and be able to communicate better.”
Samia encourages other young students in Harlem to take a chance on StreetSquash.
“It’s a really cool program that helps introduce kids to a sport they may not have heard of in the past,” Samia said. “And while you’re there, you’re also getting help with your schoolwork. So you can get two things done at once.”
She looks back fondly on her time at StreetSquash and is thankful for the opportunity.
“I’m eternally grateful to have found the program through my brother and being able to be a part of it,” Samia said.
