Growing up in the foster system isn’t as great as people may think. There are good people with good intentions, but just as many people who are looking for a government handout. I won’t go into a whole lot in case it triggers someone, but here we go.
I was eight years old when I was placed in the system along with my brother and sister. Our birth mother wanted to give us a better chance at life than what she could give us. Being eight years old and feeling rejected by the only person that I loved made a huge impact on my life and still does to this day.
I had three foster homes in the eight years I was in foster care. The last two homes weren’t the greatest as there was in physical, emotional, mental, and sexual abuse in both homes. I didn’t have a casa worker who would advocate for me in court and what I really wanted. Our social worker was overwhelmed by the amount of work she had that she didn’t have the time to really understand what was happening and we were all too young to tell someone. We grew up thinking that was okay and when we knew it wasn’t okay, I wasn’t able to really express myself and who I was as a person. The abuse that I went through was hell and made me suicidal. After three attempts I decided that I had a reason and a purpose.
I was adopted at 16 by my third foster home. It was the same as before but the physical abuse was worse. Being able to get out of that situation and live on my own has allowed me to be the person i am today. Although I would not want to wish this on anybody my experience in the system has made me strong and a better person. I joined the military to become a police officer in the civilian world to help kids get out of those situations.
