Maria C. / Focus on your Mental Health and Healing.

Maria spent 6 years in the system, The biggest challenge she faced is she missed nearly a month of school due to transportation. Her absence in school made it more difficult to learn to the best of her abilities many of her teachers were concerned about her passing and suggested for her to drop the classes but she refused because she had already came too far. She over came this challenge by attending all office hours, asking questions, watching videos online on her free time at her foster home while taking extra classes. Her teacher praised her countless of her times for bringing in new perspectives and sharing about her experiences in a third word country her country, Haiti. What brought her comfort was knowing that she was not separated from her sister therefore she can watch over her in the foster home and support her every need.

“The thought of someone else taking care of her terrified me because I felt she would be misunderstood or mistreated unfairly..”

Maria most difficult part she faced being placed in the system twice is that she felt very isolated and alone. She never shared her situation with anyone not even her closest friends. Others viewed her as the girl who's always late or mentally ill based on her punk style but they didn't know about the traumatic experiences she’d endured and the reasons why she miss so much school. She would always be pulled out of classes to talk to her therapist and many students may have felt that it was unfair. She hated that she got " special " treatment so she felt more determined to never share about it and work hard.

Maria is most proud of her accomplishments and achievements in school. She graduated with a 3.2 which could've been higher if the circumstances were different. She played volleyball, track was active in many clubs like art club, women's empowerment club, manga club and created her own crochet club! She brought in all her materials for the students put the flyers, make the slides, make the yearbook page and even drew a huge mural to represent her club and her hard work. She was in leadership and made countless of posters, pitched in amazing ideas and gave countless of inspirational speeches to the underclass men. She was also a mentor to the underclassmen many of them looked up to her and her style. Her advice for those experiencing foster care like herself is:

“I would advice to them not give into temptation and focus on school. Ask questions make sure to pass all classes to avoid ged or dropping out.”

Maria says another piece of advice is to embrace your independence and don't rely on others heavily, don't fall into drugs or bad behavior because we only have ourselves and our lives depends on us. Most important advice is to focus on your mental health and healing. Don't let being a victim be your whole identity. In order to heal you must put in the time not by going to therapy alone but by doing research and taking notes/journaling your feelings and behaviors to find true peace and happiness.

Foster Nation