For three years running, students in Beyond Housing’s college and career readiness program Viking Advantage have received full-ride Presidential Scholarships at Harris-Stowe State University.
- Danatika “Maree” Brown, class of 2023, who is majoring in criminal justice with a concentration in juvenile justice
- Carlyn Guthrie, class of 2024, who is majoring in biology and plans to attend medical school to become an anesthesiologist
- Lyia Gianey, class of 2025, who is majoring in business finance
While this prestigious academic award covers tuition, room and board, fees, and textbooks, students must pay for other supplies and expenses out of their own pockets. The funds these scholarship winners saved through Viking Advantage—as well as the ongoing advising and guidance they receive throughout their college journey—are invaluable to their long-term success.
Danatika “Maree” Brown
With only a year left until her graduation in December 2026, Brown speaks from experience about the joys—and the potential pitfalls—of the college journey. “Harris-Stowe has shaped me into who I am today,” she said. “You have to give your all to college and be devoted to it. Nothing will be handed to you. It has to be something you want, or you will not make it.”
An early passion for justice
Brown has always been interested in pursuing justice. In elementary school, she decided to study law. In middle school, she leaned toward criminal defense. By high school, she had narrowed her focus further, to defending juveniles.
However, during her sophomore year of college, she realized she could intervene earlier and perhaps help young people avoid the justice system entirely. “A lot of criminals in our generation are angry children,” she explained. “Lots of them are people who never had an outlet to speak about their emotions and get them out, and so they turned to a life of crime to get their emotions out instead. We don’t take trauma and PTSD and mental health as seriously as we should.”
Brown switched her major to criminal justice with a concentration in juvenile justice, and she intends to earn a master’s degree in psychology before entering the field of junior corrections counseling.
She knows the work will be difficult and emotionally challenging. Her sister, a social worker, advised her to have a backup plan in case her stressful career path proves too much. “Sometimes people’s hearts get broken when they realize they can’t change the system,” Brown acknowledged, and she is considering school counseling as her Plan B—but listening to her fierce determination when she speaks about the challenges she has faced in her own college journey, it is hard to imagine her changing course entirely when her heart is so firmly set on helping young people thrive.
Discovering potential through Viking Advantage
Brown learned about Viking Advantage through a school counselor during her junior year at Normandy High School. With her mother’s encouragement, she opened a bank account for the matched savings program. However, the financial commitments of high school life won out, and Brown didn’t start investing in the account until after she graduated in 2023.
But although Brown delayed the savings aspect, she found other aspects of Viking Advantage very rewarding. “After a few months, we started going on college trips, and I started to really see it was a way to prepare for college, not just another after-school activity,” Brown said. She credits College Access Program Manager James Moyamba with expanding her knowledge of the process and giving her the confidence that she could earn a scholarship.
“He helped me get in the mindset that if other people can do it, so can I,” Brown recalled.
Through Viking Advantage, Brown met College Access Coordinator Da’Jour Session, who in turn introduced her to the federally funded TRIO program, whichaids first-generation, low-income and disabled students with tutoring and college success coaching. Session helped Brown apply to Harris-Stowe, where she received the full-ride Presidential Scholarship.
By the summer after her high school graduation in 2023, Brown was ready to contribute $500 to the savings account, where it was matched 3 to 1. That $2,000 became a safety net this past summer when she needed to pay for housing. “It was a weight off my shoulders to know I had money set aside to pay for what I needed,” she said.
Lessons from the college experience
When Brown arrived on campus as a freshman, her intention to stay aloof and keep to herself didn’t last long. “Within the first week, I had made four new friends from all over the world,” she said.
The supportive community at Harris-Stowe became especially important when she struggled to find a steady homework routine between work and school. She ended up on academic probation for a semester—a new challenge for a student who had earned a 3.9 GPA in high school.
Upperclassmen came to her rescue, introducing her to online tutoring that aligned with her schedule. They also helped with assignments and walked her through professors’ teaching styles. Brown learned to use each class’s course syllabus like a roadmap and, most importantly of all, to speak up instead of struggling in silence.
“Don’t be afraid to ask for help. It is not a sign of weakness,” she emphasized. “Closed mouths do not get fed.”
Brown has heard her peers in St. Louis refer to Harris-Stowe as a party school, but she vehemently disagrees. “We have fun, but we are scholars first,” she said. “I promise you, upperclassmen get every assignment turned in before they go anywhere.” That work ethic matches her own drive to succeed. “College isn’t for everybody, but it is for me.”
Knowing that many people on and off campus care about her success helps Brown stay motivated—and her family tops the list. “My mom is my biggest supporter,” she said. “I recently lost my granny, so now I have the mindset to push a little harder. I know she is waiting for me to walk that stage, and I can’t let her down.”
Carlyn Guthrie
Guthrie’s experiences as a straight-A college student who balances school with full-time work as an anesthesiology tech illustrate the lasting impact of the Viking Advantage program. “My drive and determination come from the fact that I’m not only a first-generation college student, but I also want to set an example for every Black person—to show that if I can do it, they can too!” she said.
Choosing a local HBCU
Ahead of her graduation in 2024, Guthrie was accepted at 50 colleges. Five of them offered full-ride scholarships, including Harris-Stowe State University.
Guthrie credits Viking Advantage’s college tours with helping her narrow down her decision. She knew she wanted to attend a historically Black college and university (HBCU), and she liked the idea of a small campus where each student is valued individually. “I want to have one-on-one connections with my professors,” Guthrie said. “I want them to know my face and remember me.”
Being close to home was also an important factor. “I wanted to still be near family just in case I needed anything,” Guthrie said. “It’s a whole different story if I catch a flat thousands of miles away!”
The college sophomore now lives on the HSSU campus 15 minutes away from North St. Louis County. She values the diversity of her fellow students who come from all different backgrounds and the acceptance they offer. “I fit in perfectly,” she said. “It’s like a family.”
Balancing work and college
Guthrie has known since high school that she wanted to pursue a career as an anesthesiologist. However, she wasn’t sure what undergraduate major would serve her best on the path to medical school—and Viking Advantage’s advisor James Moyambe helped her decide on biology. She appreciated his explanation that a broader degree (rather than pre-med or nursing) would offer more flexibility within the medical field just in case she changed her mind about anesthesiology.
A change seems unlikely given that Guthrie already works full time on the overnight shift at Mercy South. She was recently promoted to a role as an anesthesiology tech, and the hospital is accommodating of her studies. “I’m super excited and grateful,” she said.
Guthrie acknowledges time management can be a challenge as she juggles her job and school with sleep and homework. “It can be a struggle to get off work at 7 a.m., be at class by 8 a.m., and be attentive,” she said.
Her resilience is bolstered by the memory of her father, whom Guthrie lost during her sophomore year of high school. “Before he passed away, he would always tell people, ‘My baby’s going to college. She’s going to be a doctor,” Guthrie said.
“After he passed, I was depressed and my grades started to drop. I kind of felt like giving up, but I knew that’s not what he would have wanted, so I picked myself up and kept going.” She persevered, ultimately graduating as the Normandy High School valedictorian.
She expressed gratitude for “how my parents—both my mom and dad—have supported me in every way possible to pursue my education and continue to encourage me in my future endeavors.”
Despite her busy schedule, Guthrie finds time for the typical clubs and organizations that make the college experience special. “You have to find your own rhythm and figure out what’s best for you,” she said. “I love the campus. I love the people. And I have great bonds with my professors.”
The impact of Viking Advantage
Guthrie credits Viking Advantage with helping her maintain a positive course. “I really enjoyed the Viking Advantage program, and I still talk about it because I’m still benefitting from it,” she said. “They really help guide, lead, and set an example for high schoolers looking to pursue their next step in college or wherever. Everybody should take advantage of it.” She has used the matched savings to purchase supplies like a new laptop and headphones, and she keeps in touch with the advisors. “Viking Advantage is a very beneficial program that carries you throughout college,” she said of the ongoing mentorship. Guthrie is already preparing for her next steps after Harris-Stowe and looking into the qualifications that will best prepare her for acceptance into Washington University’s medical school—and eventually her graduation as the second Viking Advantage alum to become a medical doctor.
Lyia Gainey
Gainey joined the Harris-Stowe community as a high schooler, taking dual credit college classes along with her twin, Linda. Now the sisters are freshmen at the university, where they live in the same dorm and have complimentary majors toward their future goal of starting a business together.
Discovering different paths
The earliest fork in the road for Gainey came early in life, when the talented young singer was offered a record deal. She chose to focus on school and education, but the experience gave her a sense of possibility.
She stayed involved with music, participating in Normandy schools’ music programs such as songwriting and studio recording. She also performed on stage in plays and musicals. In the winter of 2025, she helped write a song for a march against gun violence as part of the Movement Not Moment initiative, organized by Cardinal Ritter students after the shooting death of a 2020 graduate.
Gainey is well positioned for a career in arts and entertainment, but her ambitions are broader than a single industry. Toward a shared goal of real estate entrepreneurship with her sister, a business administration major, Gainey is studying business finance. “It only makes sense for me to have a different major so we can have a broader understanding of business,” explained Gainey, who excelled academically in math and English in high school and gravitated toward accounting and finance.
The sisters were introduced to construction and real estate through the Dream Builders 4 Equity Summer Youth Academy, where students are paid throughout eight weeks of personal and professional development. “That gave us real insight and showed us it’s something we could do,” Gainey said.
Building on shared values
Gainey credits her parents with instilling the value of working together as a family to build something profitable. They also encouraged their daughters to pursue educational opportunities like TRIO and Viking Advantage.
“I’ve always liked school, and I knew I wanted to go to college. Being a junior in high school, I didn’t know about everything I would need to do to graduate and how college was going to work out,” Gainey said. “Viking Advantage definitely gave me an advantage.”
Both sisters were able to take college courses during high school, completing two classes at Harris-Stowe each term starting the second semester of their junior year. They also contributed toward the Viking Advantage matched savings account.
Gainey used part of the $2,000 to pay for the summer courses she took prior to the fall term, and part toward technology for college. “I was able to buy a MacBook, which I use every day,” she said.
Gainey isn’t sure she would have earned a Presidential Scholarship without Viking Advantage. If I hadn’t been putting myself out there as a scholar, I wouldn’t have been noticed enough to be part of this program,” she said. The full-ride scholarship has helped her family reduce its out-of-pocket expenses toward her education.
Gainey’s long-term plans include graduate school. In the short term, she looks forward to getting more involved with music-related groups on campus. “It’s a community where there’s always something going on that you can be part of,” she said. “I like how inclusive it is. Even the president says hi to anyone. She involves herself with the students and gets to know them.”
Her message for potential Viking Advantage students in the 24:1 footprint is to put themselves out there, even if they’re not sure college is the right option for them. “Success is not a one-way street. You have a lot of different paths. Viking Advantage helps you see that,” Gainey said.
