Growing up in the foster care system, I was used to receiving a free backpack filled with supplies for the school year. As I got older and eventually entered college, I realized those types of support were not something I could rely on forever. It felt like every year after the age of 18, the supports available to foster youth like me began being stripped away. The transition to adulthood is less of a transition and more of an instant challenge. You no longer are under the state’s care, and go from having very little control of your life’s circumstances to having complete say over what you do paired with very little guidance. For a devastatingly large number of foster youth, this sharp transition leads to homelessness, criminal justice involvement, or pregnancy.
For me, the path to college was rocky. While I was always passionate about my education, the instability of life’s circumstances led me to fail multiple classes in my last two years of high school. I faced legal repercussions as a result of bad decisions, and my GPA slipped to under 2.0 my senior year. Despite that, I knew I wanted to go to college. I had no idea how to get in or if I could afford college. I told myself that if I got the opportunity to go to college, I would prioritize my education again. Due to the college promise, I was able to go straight into a competitive university despite not being as qualified as some of the other applicants. I did not take this lightly and chose to see this as a positive sign toward becoming successful. No longer would I let the turmoil in my life affect who I would be in the future.
While getting in was no easy feat, I faced new challenges once I got there. My first year of college was difficult to navigate as a foster youth and first-generation college student. I didn’t feel confident in my abilities to make it successfully through college and struggled with the feeling of being unprepared physically and mentally. Not knowing what I wanted to do or where I ultimately wanted to go with my career left me feeling like I was wasting my time. It wasn’t until I became more connected with my college campus through different programs that I finally felt the ability to navigate confidently through the school system. I got a job on campus that opened my eyes up to all of the different resources available at my university.
During my second year of college, I became involved with the Guardian Scholars program. This program helped me get in touch with resources available to former foster youth and realize that there was an entire community of people who had similar experiences as me. The support I received changed my educational trajectory. I got involved with a nonprofit that helped me navigate the job market, get mentors, and develop interview skills. I was also able to access internship opportunities in my chosen area of interest, the nonprofit field. These kinds of skills are things we don’t learn in school, but are pivotal in the success of early professionals.
While some had their parents or close family to support them, many foster youth are completely disconnected from their families or are the first in their family to go to college. Without the help of different organizations that work to uplift and support our foster youth in college, I would not have made it to that graduation stage, pursued the career I wanted, or made it to a place where I truly feel content with my life. I hope this story reminds policymakers that we need to continue to invest in the success of our foster youth, even after aging out. Relying on the good will of nonprofit organizations, individual donors, and programs in the community is not enough.
