Myshanda Upton

Student

“What I love about SMC teachers is that they’re enthusiastic. They really love what they teach.”

A two-year old and a host of relatives were raising a ruckus in the background, so Myshanda Upton ran to a more “peaceful” room. “You can tell we like to talk a lot in this family,” she says. It’s a family trait that she feels will serve her well when she goes on to law school. “My family always taught me that my opinion is worth something. And being opinionated—and vocal—I think will make me a better lawyer.” But talk, though plentiful around the Upton household, was always informed as well.

“My whole family, from my great-grandparents on down, has always insisted on education. It was a must,” says Myshanda. “We were given choices: either the military or college. Anything else was not acceptable. It’s a very structured family where Christ, education and family are held very high,” she continues. “And education comes very easily if you have support from your family. I’m just very glad I have such a good one.”

In preparing for a transfer to Howard University Law School, Myshanda is majoring in both English and History. “I’ve always loved English because of the composition and creating,” she says. And as for history, she found one class in particular at SMC that really got her fired up. “It was Mr. Mason’s African-American History class,” she recalls. “He is so enthusiastic about his subject that it really makes us all sit up and listen.”

Myshanda plans to take the bar examination in Georgia after graduating. “And then I’m going to be a civil rights attorney,” she says. “I’m a very sentimental person who loves people. And I just always relate to a good cause.”

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