Cassandra C. Dream big, dream bigger than big.

Cassandra speaks on the challenges she faced in the system being alone. It was always a big challenge for her during her time in her group homes. So in order to feel less lonely she turned to books, she have always been a bookworm. Whenever she can,she would ask her group home director to take her to the library. Where she would check out 10 books at a time and read her days away.

“There is a specific isolation we go through as foster children, and not the kind of isolation that a ratio a child may go through when being sent to their room with no dinner. It’s when no adult to nurture us or mentor to teach us, we grow lost in the system”

“Honestly, being a teen in foster care is anxiety-inducing within itself, especially if no one is there to guide me into adulthood..”

Cassandra states when it comes to her perspective of education it has changed within time. Education was nothing but a chore. She had always dreamt of being a lawyer or even a Supreme Court judge, but her depression halted her from pursuing her educational dream. It just seemed like such a heavy burden to carry such a big dream during that time. Nowadays she is slowly recovering from her sadness starting to rekindle that dream within.

Cassandra is a bookworm so books and the library was her comfort through her tough times in the foster system. Her advice for those experiencing foster care like herself is:

“Dream big, dream bigger than big. you have so much ahead of you and only you can realize you're potential.”

She feel proud of being a student of a program called SkillsUSA. A career technical education program focused on teaching students the importance of workplace skills. There she was a national ambassador and went to Washington DC to advocate for a grant. That placed newer technology in the hands of students who are just as ambitious as herself about their career dreams.

In five years, she see herself in a university working on her political science degree. Working an internship with a congressman/woman.Her goals in life is to be a politician that fights for labor rights as well as immigration rights.