Brooklyn Woman Finds Her Calling With Free Virtual Tutoring, College Counseling Platform For Low-Income Students
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Brooklyn woman worked hard through college and achieved financial success, but she felt it just wasn't enough.
Now, she's helping other students' dreams become reality through virtual tutoring.
Twenty-six-year-old Aly Murray could have been living large on Wall Street, but she gave up a lucrative job in finance for one she found much more rewarding.
"It feels so good. I have cried a lot of times. I have absolutely the best job," she told CBS2's Hazel Sanchez.
In 2018, Murray started an online tutoring platform from her Brooklyn home called UPchieve, offering live virtual tutoring and college counseling for low-income high school students.
It's available on demand 24/7 and it's free.
When UPchieve launched two years ago, it had only 50 volunteer tutors and about 100 students in the tri-state area. Now, they have some 10,000 tutors helping more than 2,000 students across the country.
"I started UPchieve because I actually was a low-income high school student. I was raised by a single mom who is an immigrant to the United States. I found school really challenging," Murray said.
Yet she graduated from Penn State and landed a job at J.P. Morgan straight out of school. It was there where she realized her true calling was to close the opportunity gap and help others like her.
"I hope that UPchieve is actually going to make it possible for many more students to end up in the same position that I did, getting jobs at J.P. Morgan and other companies and really uplifting themselves and their families," Murray said.
Fifteen-year-old Fatou Niangadou says she seeks help from UPchieve's tutors nearly every day.
"I have five siblings, and the youngest being 2, my parents can't always help me with homework, so it's nice to have this other resource that I can quickly go to," Fatou said.
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"It shouldn't matter who your parents are, how much money they make or what color their skin is. You should be able to get help whenever you need it," Murray said.
Murray says that's what UPchieve is all about -- providing equity in educational support so every student can achieve their academic goals.
To learn more about UPchieve, visit upchieve.org.
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