“She made me feel not so very alone anymore, and when I was 16 she adopted me. My life forever changed!”

I grew up in foster care and times were really rough; it seemed like my life was always going downhill. I had no one to talk to and felt very alone. I was moved around all over Oklahoma, from one shelter to another, from group home to group home. I was scared! Scared of being in foster care, scared of one day reaching the age of 18 (too old to be in the system) and still not having a family, and scared that I would end up homeless after getting out of the shelters.

When I was 13, I made another shelter move and ended up at Marland Children’s Home in Ponca City, Oklahoma. I lived there for two years. I went to high school like a normal kid, made friends, even played volleyball, but came home every night to a home that wasn’t mine, a shelter. During this time, my coach took me under her wing; we grew close, she was someone I could talk to, a role model, someone I could lean on. She made me feel not so very alone anymore, and when I was 16 she adopted me. My life forever changed! My coach, her husband and her family welcomed me with open arms and love. A home found me!

My new family has always encouraged me to do well in school and to go to college after high school. They have wanted nothing, but the best for me!

After high school I enrolled at Northern Oklahoma College where I earned a scholarship from NOC for being a member of the Roustabouts. The scholarship opportunities and the help I’ve received from being in DHS custody have made me not only take school seriously, but also made me want to do well. In May, I finished my first year of college and I am very optimistic about my future here at NOC.

I may have been a young girl in foster care with not much of a voice or anyone to listen to me for that matter, but I now sing loud and proud on a stage at NOC as a member of the Roustabouts and I will use my voice to get a degree in Mass Communications, and I will use it today to tell anyone that is reading this to remember, good things come to those who wait. I’m living proof!

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