Ever since I moved down to Seattle, Washington, my life has changed in many ways. When I was around 12 or 13, I was taken into foster care and taken away from my mother who was addicted to drugs and wasn’t supplying us with a safe home. I then moved from home to home until I turned 18 years old and found a way to make my life “stable.”
In June 2021, I graduated high school with A’s and B’s. It was challenging to make up credits for classes that I had failed and navigating around my broken homes. I found a way to make something possible that seemed so impossible to the people around me. My social worker, Shari, was one of the most strict and constant people in my life who always made it clear to me that she’s proud of me. I appreciate that from the bottom of my heart.
Now that I am a grown-up and make my own decisions, I can say that it is not easy at all, having to figure out my life after high school. It hasn’t been a piece of cake, believe me. Some people say I make it look easy, but I have had many sleepless nights where I just cried and cried and, sometimes, never knew my next steps. I started having meetings with my Independent Living worker and applying for different scholarships while figuring out what I was going to do when I moved out. I took everything day by day. I applied to many different colleges. I applied and got accepted to Bellevue College.
After my acceptance, I started making meetings with my advisor and figured out different ways to make my career better where I can be successful. I was then accepted into TRIO Student Support Services, a program that offers extra help for college students to be successful. I, then, became more confident with my college journey. I figured all of this out on my own. You can do it too.
At one point, I wasn’t confident. I was working a full-time job with only one day off and had to get tests done for college course placements. I decided I didn’t want to start in the winter because I wanted to be “ready.” I set up a meeting with my advisor and let her know what was going on. She began to bring the confidence all back. I had let her know that I was stressed out and hadn’t made time to get my tests done so I wanted to push back my start date. She said that they can still sign me up for my classes that day. She told me that I don’t need to stress and that I don’t need my tests done before I start school. I signed up for my classes and stayed positive. Everything that might seem impossible is possible if you make it possible. There will be people that support you or don’t support you. But they aren’t the ones making your dream possible.
