ABOUT ME
My name is Artresia Fryar, born and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey.
It wasn’t easy growing up in Plainfield and trying to succeed when the odds are against you.
Approaching high school I realized that I had to found a way to make good of myself to have a productive and fulfilled life. One of my favorite quotes is by Oprah “I don’t think of myself as a poor
deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.” I graduated from UCC in 2002 with a degree in Business and then started a Bachelor’s degree at William Paterson University. As soon I obtained my Associates degree and I started as a substitute teacher in the Plainfield school district. Through building rapport with various schools I obtained a position as the Youth Outreach Development Specialist at Maxson Middle School. I was the first staff member as they were starting the new School Based Program on the middle school level. I stayed in that position from 2005-2008 while obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology in 2006. I obtained my Master’s Degree in Social Work in 2009 and was awarded with a “Life of passages” certificate, where the school identified the top African American students that stood out in that graduating class.
I have held a few positions as a counselor in a partial day program, at correctional half way house as Unit Supervisor, a Social Work therapist at the Special Treatment Unit in Rahway, part time at an
adolescent group home for the last past 13 years and facilitating girl groups biweekly at Lord Stirling School in Basking Ridge. My current position as a Site Coordinator/Social Worker for Plainfield school district School Based Youth Services Program. I felt that it was important to get back to my own community and do what I love. School Based has afforded me great opportunities to use my leadership skills and make a positive difference in children lives. I have been mentioned in a few articles such as “Notable Today”, “Our Future Start Now-Plainfield Board
of Education” and “CEC-Community Education Centers”. In 2014, I was the guest speaker at Maxson Middle School promotion ceremony. Currently, I am an adjunct professor at Union County College and a Field Liaison that mentor Social work students at Rutgers University. I am also a Vision Board Event host that helps empower women to pursue their dreams and accomplish
their goals. I also as expressed an interest in traveling, realizing that the world is a big place. I have traveled to
Mexico, Jamaica, Belize, Israel, Jordan, Paris, London, Puerto Rico, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Morocco, Italy, Colombia, Dubai, Thailand, Aruba, Brazil, Antigua, Argentina and various islands. I plan on going to Cuba and Ghana this upcoming year.
My future endeavors are to open my own girls group home and write a workbook on how to run groups, conduct girl groups around the country and obtaining my DSW, which I started in October 2017.