I was a foster care child. Between the ages of ten and fourteen, my life changed forever; I was in the foster care system two separate times in the course of four years.  It felt bad to leave my parents. I knew at a very young age that foster care would limit opportunities to grow in my development as a person. Foster care was an awful reality. My privacy was taken away and my life was controlled; my foster parents would search through my personal belongings and listen in on my phone conversations. I felt like I didn’t have any “inalienable rights” that this country prides itself on allowing their citizens to have. I felt like my personal identity was altered because I could not freely express myself. I felt like I couldn’t speak my mind, have opinions, or think in a different way than someone else. I felt alone.
I remember my first night in foster care. I just laid in my bed, sobbing. I called a family friend of mine, and I said to her, “I don’t want to be here, I want to die.” I repeated that line so many times, that I almost believed I had to die to be able to be free. But I soon realized that I was put on this earth for a reason, and it wasn’t to die young. I used my pain as drive and perseverance to try and get out of foster care. I wanted a better life for my sister and me.
Many times during my stay in foster care, I was calling my law guardian on numerous occasions to talk to him about having a family friend take temporary custody of my sister and me.  I remember looking up case law that could potentially allow the judge to let a person of no blood relation take my sister and me out of foster care. I worked day and night to make sure that my foster care experience would only be temporary. Even though I was in foster care, I still maintained my grade point average as if I wasn’t in foster care, and sometimes I did better in certain classes while being in the foster care system. I had something more to fight for in foster care. I had to fight for my chance at life. I had to fight to have my own voice.

My foster care experience allowed me to find my passion, the law. I have wanted to be an attorney since I was ten years old. Having my right to freedom of expression taken away has made me want to advocate for others who are not strong enough to defend themselves. I never want anyone feeling as alone as I did in foster care. I never want anyone to face injustices alone. Becoming an attorney could allow me to make a difference in the world, to try to stop maltreatment that I faced and that other people in the world are currently facing. I want to be able to help people face issues that I can potentially solve with my legal skills.
Throughout my experience in foster care, I have learned that the world is full of unfairness.  If becoming an attorney can solve or alleviate some of these injustices that people face every day, I am changing the world. I can make the world a better place, one case at a time.