Aryana-Marie Allen smiling for a photo in December. (Photo provided by Aryana Allen)

MARIETTA — Aryana-Marie Allen has plans to further her career in psychology, working specifically with children, once she graduates and begins her first semester at Marietta College in the fall.

Allen is a senior at the Washington County Career Center and attends courses at Washington State College of Ohio. She’s currently half-way through her senior year.

“My mom used to tell me when I was in middle school that time goes by fast and not to take it for granted,” said Allen. “It went by pretty darn fast.”

Allen was enrolled at Fort Frye High School until her junior year where she began the pre-nursing program at the career center.

She said she enjoyed the classes but decided it wasn’t for her and switched to phlebotomy to obtain her phlebotomy license upon graduation. Allen said she knew at a very young age she wanted to pursue this path because she volunteered and worked at an assisted living facility her mom worked at and really enjoyed the experience.

Christian Friese, left, and Aryana-Marie Allen, right, pose for a photo with their dog Baxter in November. (Photo provided by Aryana Allen)

“I just really ended up liking it,” said Allen.

She said her junior year was incredibly busy with school which required a lot of time spent at her career center program and enrolled in classes at WSCO. She recalled spending the majority of her time researching and writing essays.

Allen said her last semester has been significantly reduced in terms of workload because she worked so hard her junior year and the beginning of her senior year.

“I really wanted to not overdo myself this year,” she said.

Through WSCO she took classes like human disease, English composition, psychology and statistics.

A selfie taken by Aryana-Marie Allen in November. (Photo provided by Aryana Allen)

“In the fall I’ll be going to Marietta College for psychology and I took psychology through Washington State and I liked it a lot,” she said. “I’ve seen firsthand kids in my life struggling with stuff and I decided to go with child psychology.”

She said all of her classes have provided her with a headstart towards obtaining her bachelor’s degree and continuing on to pursue a masters.

“I was accepted into many schools and was stuck between a few,” she said. “I decided I wanted to stay here with my family.”

Allen said it was a hard decision but she feels like it was the right decision since she didn’t want to upturn her entire life to go to a college. Marietta College suited what she was looking for.

She said life had been a little crazy during her middle school years and she had to work hard to earn an honor’s diploma with a 3.7 GPA at the career center.

Aryana-Marie Allen, left, and her mom Noelle Allen, right, smile for a photo together. (Photo provided by Aryana Allen)

“It was hard because I had everything set, I was a cheerleader, I had good grades, and when we moved and I had to leave all my friends it was very hard,” she said.

Allen had moved from Lowell to Marietta which made it difficult at the time because it was a decent drive away from Fort Frye. She said her junior year she enrolled at the career center and went back to Fort Frye.

“I’ve always been one to overdo myself when I don’t need to, and I stress myself out way too much, but I’ve always overdone myself to the point where at least I’ll be happy because I succeeded,” she said.

Allen said she wants to pursue something where she can help people firsthand.

Part of her phlebotomy program includes clinicals which she said begin later in the semester. It requires hands-on experience where she will be working with her classmates on how to properly stick needles and draw blood.

Christian Friese, left, and Aryana-Marie Allen, right, smile for a photo together in November. (Photo provided by Aryana Allen)

She said they’ll viwsit local hospitals to observe and practice sticking and drawing blood.

“Halfway through the course is when we start clinicals,” she said.

Allen also received a call from WSCO informing her she made it on the Dean’s List for Fall 2025.

Allen said since her schedule isn’t as busy this semester, she’s able to spend more time doing things she enjoys like seeing her family and playing with her dog Baxter.

“I’ve been binge watching ‘Law & Order,'” said Allen.

Allen and her boyfriend Christian Friese have one of eight puppies which were from his mom’s adopted dog. She said the dog ended up having puppies which Allen took care of and ended up keeping one, which is a German shepherd and pitbull mix.

“His (Friese’s) stepdad lives in Lower Salem and his house has a lot of land so he (Baxter) likes to go out there and spend his free time getting in trouble,” said Allen.

Allen said she’s looking forward to her academic and career plans.

Amber Phipps can be reached at aphipps@newsandsentinel.com

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