Bya’s Journey: Helping Girls Find Their Path, Before They Think They Have One
Ask Bya Bradley what she was like as a kid, and she can take it all the way back. Reflecting so clearly on who she was and what shaped her development really gives a clear understanding into how she chooses to live her life today.
"I was really shy," she laughs. "My mom used to tell my teachers, 'She's not going to start a conversation with you. But if you ask her a question, she'll answer.'"
Bya grew up on Milwaukee's north side, surrounded by her family. Grandparents and cousins around the corner. Summers meant basketball in the street, trips to the park, and waiting outside each morning for the neighborhood kids to come out.
"We didn't realize we didn't grow up in the best neighborhood," she says. "We had great experiences."
Those experiences, and the unwavering support of her mother and grandparents, became the foundation for a career dedicated to helping young people discover their own potential.
Today, Bya serves as PEARLS' College & Career Readiness Manager, helping girls prepare for life after high school. But if you ask her what college and career readiness really means, she'll tell you it has very little to do with filling out applications.
"It's about helping girls figure out who they are first."
Exposure is a key component to self-inquiry and discovery and for Bya school was an influential entry point to new worlds. After attending a diverse elementary school, she experienced culture shock entering middle school. The transition was difficult, but it became the beginning of something transformative.
"I realized I had to start advocating for myself," she says.
High school brought another challenge and although Bya had excelled academically in middle school, the rigorous curriculum at Nicolet High School required a different level of preparation. For the first time, she really struggled.
"I couldn't just coast anymore," she says. "I actually had to study. I hated failing," she admits. "So I figured out what I needed to do."
Instead of giving up, she learned one of life's most valuable lessons and asked for help. She stayed after school for tutoring, met with teachers during office hours, and leaned on the expectations her mother had set at home.
"My mom made it clear—if I wasn't doing what I needed to do in school, I wasn't playing sports."
Athletics were a huge part of Bya's life growing up. Basketball was her first love and taught her teamwork, but track and field gave her platform to excel.
"I realized this is what I wanted to do," she says. "I was breaking records, and I found something that came naturally. Twenty years later, some of those records are still standing."
Sports taught discipline and resilience but after multiple hamstring injuries ended her collegiate track career, she had to let go of something she'd loved for years.
Instead of seeing it as the end, she shifted her focus toward work that had always come naturally. Helping young people and supporting those around her.
As the first person in her immediate family to earn both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree, Bya understands firsthand the barriers many first-generation college students face. She earned a full athletic scholarship to UW–Milwaukee, balancing coursework, work-study positions, athletics, and multiple jobs. Like many students, her path wasn't linear. She worked through setbacks, financial challenges, injuries, and uncertainty before eventually returning to graduate school years later. Graduating with a 3.9 GPA in a newly created Higher Education and Student Leadership program affirmed something she hadn't fully recognized before.
"I realized how capable I was."
It wasn't simply about earning another degree, she had stretched her internal view of herself and it changed everything.
Bya knows in her colligate journey resources were left on the table. Her mother did everything she could to help her navigate applications, financial aid, and college decisions, but much of the process she had to figure out herself.
Years later, after working with AmeriCorps, the Boys & Girls Club, Milwaukee Public Schools, and higher education programs across the city, she realized she had become the person she wishes every student had access to.
For nearly a decade, Bya has helped students navigate life after high school. She has built college and career readiness systems, developed new programming, partnered with schools across Milwaukee, and most importantly, walked alongside students as they discovered their own futures.
Former students still reach out to share milestones:
Graduating from college
Starting businesses
Entering graduate school
Pursuing careers they once thought were impossible
"To know I've had an impact over these past eight or nine years has been amazing," she says.
She also recognizes the realities many young people face. Not every path leads directly to college. Not every dream follows the same timeline. Her role isn't to define success for students, it’s to foster them as they define it for themselves.
Today, Bya brings that same passion to PEARLS as the College & Career Readiness (CCR) Manager and this vision starts long before senior year.
Rather than waiting until students are applying to college, she believes career exploration begins in middle school with helping girls understand who they are before deciding what they want to become.
"There are so many different pathways," she says. "Our job is to make sure girls know they have options."
Throughout middle and high school, girls explore:
Personal strengths and interests
Identity and confidence
Career exploration
High school planning
Financial aid and scholarships
College applications
Trades, apprenticeships, military, entrepreneurship, and workforce opportunities
The goal isn't simply college acceptance. It's helping every girl make an informed decision about her future.
This summer, Bya is launched PEARLS' College & Career Readiness Summer Bridge Program in partnership with UW–Milwaukee, giving rising seniors the opportunity to:
Draft college essays
Complete practice applications
Explore financial aid
Visit college campuses
Meet college representatives
Connect with current college students
Learn what "college fit" really means
Bya is so passionate about her students, and their success is carried with her.
"I've had students tell me, 'If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have finished high school,'" she says.
She's helping reopen doors, strengthen systems, and expand opportunities for girls across Milwaukee.
"I'm just bringing what I have to the table."
For PEARLS, that means decades of lived experience, educational expertise, and a deep commitment to helping every girl discover her own path. Thank you Bya for bringing your passion and precision to PEARLS.
With gratitude,
The PEARLS Team
