I can relate to thousands of kids in foster care, I mean I was a foster child myself and through all the struggles I’ve had to go through, I am definitely a stronger person. There is a typical image for foster kids, you’re bad, you can’t be trusted, and you’re always going be the trouble maker. I’ve had those labels and trust me it gets old after so long. Most children are going try and live up to that stereotype because it’s always preached to them by peers, teachers, siblings and sometimes even foster parents. I had such a hard time trying to change that for myself but eventually I did it!
I came from a big family, the second born of six children and always had the role of being the big sister which usually meant more responsibility. My mom was always in and out of jail and my dad was only there sometimes, they were both drug addicted and alcohol addicted. My mom got pregnant as a teen which is the main reason she never grew up, she’ll never truly understand what it’s like to be a mom and my father was one of the types of guys that never wanted to accept his responsibility. My grandmother was always the one who took care of all six of us, I don’t know how my life would be if I didn’t have that wonderful woman in my life.
I went through a period of time in my life were I was experimenting with drugs, I didn’t listen to anyone, I thought I was grown up, I was miss independent. 11 years old and I was in the streets not doing what most kids my age did, I would sneak out at night to go and smoke. I wasn’t in school anymore, I pretty much dropped out before I even got into Jr. High. It’s insane when I start thinking about it now because I know I’m a much better person then that. I got into so much trouble and never once thought about the consequences of tomorrow. I made a huge mistake but in end it eventually all caught up to me.
