Manor Student Building the Community She Once Sought

Amiyah Trammer (Bodine High School, Philadelphia) is studying for a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development at Manor College.

Amiyah Trammer never knew what a real community meant. Coming from an Army family, she was born in Syracuse and spent her childhood moving across Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Nevada, and Kentucky. That upheaval was replaced by loneliness when she moved in with her mother in Philadelphia.

Trammer’s mother worked as a single parent to provide for the pair. To fill the void, Trammer, a child with a vivid imagination and lots of alone time, created a fake family she’d chat with while her mother was out working.

“That was my way of coping with being by myself,” Trammer said. “I didn’t feel like I had the attention and it was OK. There were more responsibilities my mom had to do in order to survive.”

Today, Trammer leans on those experiences. A Child Development major at Manor College and a preschool teacher, she’s become the kind of adult every child deserves.

“Kids can be swept under the rug,” Trammer said. “Having people that are passionate about understanding children and making them feel important creates confident adults who can lead by example and stand up for what’s right.”

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At Manor, Trammer discovered what she sought often as a child – a community ready to give her the attention she needed to succeed.

“When I leave Manor, I know I’ll leave a changed person,” Trammer said. “Most of my adulting has happened here. Manor pushed me to be around people who challenged me to be a better student and a better person.”

Originally, Trammer had her sights on larger institutions, one visit changed everything.

“After visiting and the conversations I had with people there, I just felt immediately connected with it,” Trammer said.

Manor College’s community gave Trammer the opportunity to try new things and fail safely. It exposed her to new environments, new people and new opportunities.

During her freshman year, she joined Manor College’s women’s basketball team, despite not having played basketball. She equated the experience to speaking a new language and trying to be fluent within a month’s span.

It was a humbling experience, but one of the first where she exposed herself to something new.

“If you are comfortable with making errors, then you can be even more successful in what comes after that,” Trammer said. “Don’t be afraid to try new things, because the comeback defined me more than failing did.”

Since then, Trammer became a Resident Assistant in the dorms as a way to help others have a platform to speak. She will serve the institution this Fall as a Presidential Ambassador. She’s helping build the community for others that she sought as a child.

“You have to surround yourself with people that make you comfortable and support your growth,” Trammer said. “I found that here at Manor.”