Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Sisters’ long walk together ends with diplomas
Aliyah and Artia Conley didn’t need to shop for a Mother’s Day card this year. They just asked their mom to make a trip to Fayetteville.
The sisters expected tears to flow as they walked across the stage at Barnhill Arena on Saturday to pick up their college diplomas from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville — Aliyah with an engineering degree and Artia with a business degree.
Aliyah could have graduated in December, but she stretched her studies another semester so the sisters could graduate together.
“I think the May graduation is a little bigger, a little more special,” Aliyah said. “So I decided to wait so we could walk together.”
They’ve walked the same path for most of the last decade since their mother, Adrienne Conley, enrolled them at P.A.R.K. in Little Rock — Keith Jackson’s after-school and summer tutoring program, Positive Atmosphere Reaches Kids.
The program counts 83 college graduates and 104 degrees earned, including eight master’s and one juris doctorate, since it was established in 1993.
Jackson made the trip to
Fayetteville to watch the Conley sisters on their big day, as he does with all his graduates.
“This is so much fun,” said Jackson, a former college and professional football player who grew up in Little Rock. “I don’t miss them. I’m so proud of all of them.”
All have inspirational stories, but the Conley sisters’ stories are unique in that they enrolled together and have been inseparable every step of the way. They will head different directions this summer as both have accepted jobs.
Aliyah heads for Kansas City to work for Hallmark Cards. She worked in Hallmark’s intern program last year after also having internships with Walmart and Nissan Motors. Artia heads home to Little Rock to be part of the Kohls department store management team program. Her degree is in apparel merchandising with a minor in supply chain logistics.
Aliyah tried to talk Artia into joining her at Hallmark, but Artia said it was time for them to head different directions. It’s going to be difficult, one of the reasons she expected tears Saturday night.
“I know where my tears came from. It’s because I’ll be leaving” her, Artia said. “We have been together for basically everything our whole lives. It’s emotional because we’ve cooked for each other, done everything to help each other do this. I think if you ask people, they will tell you if they see one Conley sister, they generally see the other one, too. We are best friends.”
Aliyah is 15 months older and one year ahead in school, but she took longer to make it through the engineering program because of struggles in calculus. Her background at Little Rock Parkview High School didn’t include much advanced placement math.
“I didn’t know that I was going to need so much calculus,” Aliyah said. That’s an understatement. “I will explain to everyone at P.A.R.K. that hopes for engineering that they could take college calculus at Pulaski Tech and get all of that out of the way,” she said. “You can get a start in it before getting to college.
“So when I got here, I started in Pre-Cal, then I had to get Cal I, Cal II and Cal III. Everyone else in my class was ahead of me.”
It wasn’t easy.
“No, I took Cal I four times, Cal II three times and Cal II two times,” she said. “That was a lot of money.”
And lots of time. She almost lived in the Bell Engineering Building.
“It was just a never-ending battle, so difficult,” she said. “But that’s what makes my journey so special, because it was so different and difficult, but I was always going to make it.
“I’d get to Bell at 6:45 a.m. And stay until 1:30 a.m. Artia brought me my meals. I laugh about this, but my mom wondered where I’d gone because all I did was stay in the engineering building. I have the keys to the building – every room. I have amazing fortitude.”
And she cries, too. The expected tears at graduation will come with the struggles in mind.
“What I can tell you is that engineering was tough, really hard,” she said. “I don’t want to take away anything from other majors, but I came from Little Rock Parkview and the focus is arts and science.
“I knew I wanted engineering, but should have taken advanced math classes. I should have focused on those courses in high school. If you don’t know, you don’t know.”
The sisters know it’s a special day, not just for them, but to everyone at P.A.R.K., too. They remember starting the program in junior high.
“Mom always has been big on higher education,” Artia said. “She ran across P.A.R.K. one day.
“I was going into the eighth grade, and Aliyah was going into the ninth grade. She thought it was the perfect timing because they were also taking ninth graders. We both started the program at the same time.”
Aliyah said the sisters were kept busy.
“Every summer since we were little kids, we were in some kind of enrichment camp whether it was being science focus or math focus or college prep,” Aliyah said. “Mom saw what we didn’t see of ourselves at a very young age,” she said.
“What Mom saw was that there may be a lot of after school things leading up the grades through eighth grade, but after ninth grade, if you didn’t have a sport or something, your time was spent at home. P.A.R.K. was that after school activity that provided enrichment.”
Artia said P.A.R.K. seemed like extra tutoring at first. But as time passed, she found it a good place to make friends outside of school.
“You found more mentors who supported you and rooted for you to make sure you were bringing home those good grades,” Artia said.
Jackson did more than root for good grades. He provided the rewards.
“We found out that you got $100 for a 4.0, so I did it every nine-week session, every time, a 4.0. Mr. Jackson hands you $100, a stack of $1 bills,” Aliyah said. “I was going to get a 4.0.
“I think we always made good grades because our mom demanded it, but until P.A.R.K. there wasn’t quite the emphasis on all A’s. My mom said the only C on the report card could be the “C” in Conley. I don’t remember any horrendous grades for either one of us, but it became straight A’s at P.A.R.K.
“There was no reason you couldn’t excel at P.A.R.K. You forgot your book, they had every high school book in a cabinet. There is no room for excuses. They provided literally every resource imaginable. It comes back on you, yes, you have the resources at P.A.R.K., but are you taking advantage of them?”
Jackson said that’s the beauty of the program, designed for students at-risk of not reaching their academic potential.
“They are exactly what we look for, and remember, it’s not a shotgun approach,” Jackson said. “It’s a rifle approach. We select the ones that are best fits for the program.”
Aliyah said the sisters knew it was an honor to be selected for P.A.R.K., and were aware that not everyone who applied was accepted, “So we knew we better take advantage of our opportunity.”
They thank God — and Jackson.
“I can tell you for sure, Mr. Jackson is a Godly man,” Artia said. “God sent him for P.A.R.K. and his family allowed him to focus on it. They gave him the time to commit to it, so they are Godly, too. His wife and his sons are just as involved.”
Jackson often waits at the front door of the building as students arrive to study. There are lots of hugs, Jackson confirmed, but more than that.
“I reach out with my hand to the young men, each day when they come in the door,” Jackson said. “I teach them what a handshake is supposed to be and how to look a man in the eyes.”
The hugs were in demand this weekend.
“Graduation is a wonderful day,” Jackson said. “It’s just wonderful.
“The Conley sisters, everyone knew it from the start, they have the ‘it’ factor. We knew this day was coming. We just knew it.”
“I can tell you for sure, Mr. Jackson is a Godly man. God sent him for P.A.R.K. and his family allowed him to focus on it. They gave him the time to commit to it, so they are Godly, too. His wife and his sons are just as involved.”
— Artia Conley