Aaliyah D. / Keep going because there is always light at the end of the tunnel.

My mother had me while she was incarcerated and I was immediately put into the foster care system at birth. The most challenging thing was that my mother struggled with drug abuse and still does to this day. She had the opportunity to get me back when I was 9 years old but, she wasn't clean and couldn't provide for us. When I was 11 years old I was adopted by a family member but later went back into the system at 17 years old. When I went back to foster care I faced challenges ranging from having foster parents that were only in it for the money to a foster parent literally putting me out with my things on the streets.

I enrolled in school and always maintained employment in retail. I emancipated when I was I was 20 years old and even did some transitional housing until I was 25 years old. I have two children of my own so I am very big on their education. Today, I am stable and I just obtained my first degree at Santa Monica College (One of the best days of my life).

I plan on starting my own businesses and finishing my second degree and being the best mother I can be. Keep going because there is always light at the end of the tunnel.   

If I had one piece of advice to give, it would be to focus on a craft/career and always stay in school or involved with what you actually enjoy doing.

The foster care system taught me how to be more independent. I had to go get things on my own. I did not have a mother or father to help me out with things or give me any life advice.