UA Little Rock Graduate Turns Childhood Struggles Into Lifelong Mission to Help Others
After spending much of his youth in Michigan’s foster care system, Curtis Harris Jr. knew he wanted to pursue a career that would allow him to make a meaningful difference in the lives of others facing similar challenges.
That sense of determination has fueled Harris’s mission to become a social worker, where he can serve as a steady presence for children navigating the same system that once failed him.
“The story is only complete when I can change the trajectory of even one foster child’s life,” he said. “That makes everything I’ve been through mean something. I want to be the person who can say, ‘You can make it, because I’m you.’ Sometimes, having a solid example is all a child needs to have hope.”
Harris knows firsthand the struggles that can come with an unstable childhood. By age 16, he lived in 14 foster homes, two boys’ homes, and two juvenile detention centers because there was nowhere else to place him.
“When I aged out of the system, I got a check for $250 and was told to figure it out,” he said. “I was homeless for a little bit. With no blueprint or map, I had to create my own.”
This May, Harris will earn his Master of Social Work from UA Little Rock, a milestone he sees not as a finish line, but as a new beginning. He’s already accepted a position as a medical social worker at UAMS and plans to pursue a Ph.D. in social work in the future.
“I’m not here to write your story,” Harris said. “I’m here to help you along the way. You still have the pen. Everyone needs a little help now and then.”
A first-generation college student and father, Harris moved to Arkansas in 2010 to reconnect with his biological father.
“I wouldn’t have the life I have now if that man hadn’t extended an olive branch for me to move to Arkansas,” Harris said.
Though that relationship didn’t last, becoming a father himself inspired him to stay and build a life in Conway. He completed his undergraduate degree in health and behavioral science at the University of Central Arkansas, then sought a graduate program that aligned with his experiences and values. UA Little Rock’s social work program felt like the right fit.
While enrolled at UA Little Rock, Harris balanced full-time work, parenting, and fieldwork in clinical settings. He completed internships at UAMS’s Longevity Center, 12th Street Clinic, and Family Medicine Clinic.
“I’ve made it look easy, but I’m very disciplined and very structured,” he said. “I don’t wait on due dates. I live my life in five-year increments. I don’t think about today. I think about what the next five years will look like. Sacrificing now opens doors for the next five years, and that’s okay. That might just be the resilient side of me.”
His time at UA Little Rock was also shaped by the support of faculty and peers, particularly during a period of personal loss in his first year.
“What stood out most was the community,” Harris said. “People here truly care and want to see you succeed. That’s what I’ll remember most.”
Harris credits mentors like Dr. Tara DeJohn, Dr. Laura Danforth, Dr. Lance Grahn, Caitlyn Johnson, and Ruth Fissel with helping him grow into the social worker he is today, and he hopes to pay that forward.
“For anyone thinking about going into social work, I’d say this: You have to love people. You have to be willing to advocate, even when no one is looking,” he said. “This career is not about you. It’s about the people in front of you. If you can look back 20 years from now and know you’ve changed lives, then you’ve made the right choice.”