Madison M. / Understand that you do not owe anyone anything.

Madison spent one year in the system. Her biggest challenge in the foster care system was the fear of getting split up with her siblings. There was a point of time when her brother got placed in a different home and her and her sister had to fight for getting back home.

“Not every foster parent fosters out of kindness, but rather uses you for financial gain. There were many times my siblings and I got misplaced and treated differently than our foster parents' own child.”

Madison siblings were her comfort zone in foster care! They took care of each other and leaned on each other greatly. The holidays were rough. Her and her siblings had been placed in foster homes where the parents would try to make it better for them. However you really start to miss your own family around the holidays.

One thing she is most proud of is her perseverance. She has been in some of the toughest situations in life and always have an innate survival instinct to bounce back.

Madison is an example of what it is to over come the odds in the most difficult moments in life. She was always really good at school and remember hearing about the inequity of her situation. She never believed that she would be at a disadvantage academically, until she got into high school. She realized it was structured in a way that did not benefit children like her. She stopped going to school and if it wasn't for great academic mentors, she would not be in college today.

Her advice for those experiencing foster care like herself is:

“It is ok to miss your family, in fact it is biological. Understand that you do not owe anyone anything.”

There were so many times when she felt that foster families expected a certain amount of gratitude from her and her siblings .Please understand that you are allowed to be angry and upset. She see herself doing therapy, hopefully working with foster care children and helping them navigate their lives in the system. Her goal in life is to take my hardships and use them to inspire and influence the future generation of kids going through similar and different hardships.