Class of Fall 2025: CASL graduate Mariesha Harrington

As a teenager, Mariesha Harrington promised her grandfather she’d graduate from college. On Saturday, 20 years after making that oath, she’s making good on it — and then some.

“My grandfather, Edward, was my role model, my everything,” says Harrington, who was born and raised in River Rouge. “My grandfather was the smartest man I know, but he didn’t have the chance to go to college and he wanted something different for me. He wanted his family to persevere and thrive.”

Harrington, who was an adult learner in the university’s SOAR Program as an undergrad, earned her master’s degree through the university’s Criminology and Criminal Justice Program, just one year after finishing her undergrad degree. This weekend, she’ll be awarded a Master of Science in criminology. She graduated with her undergraduate degree in sociology from UM-Dearborn in 2024.

“To reach that college graduation goal — and any goal I wanted to reach — my grandfather would tell me, ‘You gotta make it do what it do,’” she says. “I didn’t know what he meant at the time, but today I have life experience. I get it now. I had some challenges that I needed to overcome. But I definitely ‘made it do what it do’ to get here.”

By “here,” Harrington — a mom of three children, ages 17, 9, and 8 — means physically seeing where determination can get you. She initially started at an out-of-state college following her 2006 high school graduation. But life had other plans. At age 19, her grandfather died, Harrington became pregnant and she dropped out of school.

“The changes around me at that time felt like a lot and I didn’t know how to handle it,” says Harrington, whose daughter Aniya was born in 2008. “I came back to River Rouge and needed to figure out how I was going to build the life I wanted for my daughter and myself. I worked odd jobs to make ends meet. I never forgot about my promise, but I wasn’t sure how to make it happen.”

So Harrington looked for opportunities and put the pieces together one step at a time. Wanting a career where she could work with children, she learned of a lunch aide opening at Dr. Charles Drew Academy in Ecorse. “Working in a lunch room was part time and low-paying — but I knew it could be a stepping stone. To create change, you gotta make it do what it do,” she says.  The school’s administration saw the positive interactions between Harrington and the children and offered her a classroom parapro position. Then, an opportunity opened up as the K-8 school’s administrative assistant. She applied and was hired.

“I met all types of wonderful families with great kids,” she says.  “I believe that I had a purpose and my purpose was to work with children. I didn't know exactly what I was supposed to be doing to help them, but I knew I needed to do more.” Outside of her secretarial tasks, she’d help the elementary-aged kids with homework, give them money to buy food and talk with them about goal-setting for their futures. When she’d hear about a lack of meals or utilities, she’d share resource lists with the families.

After the school closed in 2015, she was hired as an administrative assistant at Wayne Metro Action Agency. Her sons Bryce and Braydon were born in 2016 and 2017, respectively. And, to avoid high day care costs, she took a hiatus from work to stay home with her babies and work odd jobs until they were old enough for preschool. “I looked at my three kids and told myself that it was time to make something happen,” she says. “I needed to pull together all my strength and push myself to get on the path where I could help more people, myself included.”

In 2019, Harrington began working at Hope Academic Academy in Ecorse as a school secretary as she made a plan for college. In 2021, Harrington decided to turn her life around in the midst of the pandemic. She enrolled at Henry Ford College and studied psychology and sociology. “Sitting in night classes, we’d talk about theories. There was labeling theory, social disorganization theory and social control theory. I had no idea what these things were — until they were described. Then I saw the faces of my former students and clients. In college, we’d discussed these definitions. In life, I saw these theories in action through people I know and love,” she says. “That’s when I got what I call my ‘sociological eye.’” And once she got the “eye,” it pushed her to work harder.

Harrington started at Wayne Metro as a Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness Specialist in 2021, connecting clients with resources like shelter, child care, job opportunities and mental health services.  In 2022, she graduated with her associate degree from HFC. And, in 2022, she started at UM-Dearborn. Earlier this year, she accepted a position with the State of Michigan as a child welfare specialist. 

Working for CPS added a whole new dimension to Harrington’s goals. “It’s a full-time job — and when I say full-time job, it means that at 5 o'clock, your mind is still thinking about the families. You ask yourself, ‘Did I really ensure safety for this child? Is anything going to happen between now and 8 in the morning when I clock in?,” she says.“I want a seat at the policymaking table to be a voice for my clients, for all the kids I’ve worked with. To do that, I need a doctorate.” She’s currently applying for PhD programs.

So Harrington’s educational journey is not complete. But she’s satisfied with where she is today. She’s a role modeled for her three children — who will be in the audience on Saturday — and for her clients. And she’s fulfilled a very important promise.

“My grandfather’s words started this. It didn’t start out the way I expected it to go, but the end result is the same — maybe even better,” she says. “I want people to know that there’s no age limit to learning. Adversity is always there, but so is opportunity. Just remember to ‘make it do what it do’.”

Story by Sarah Tuxbury