A Voice for The Voiceless: Alexis’s Story

“My heart sunk into my stomach, and it felt like everything that I had been working towards was for nothing,” she recalls. “Any possibility of a career I wanted felt out of arm’s reach, and I was just going to have to settle for something more realistic.”

Alexis always prided herself on being a straight-A student. “I never missed a day of school, always turned in my assignments on time, always aced that test,” she says. “I can thank my adopted mother for that.”

Alexis’s biological mother was 16 years old when she was born and unable to provide for her. So after a brief stay in foster care, Alexis and her younger sister were adopted when Alexis was 2 years old.

“When you’re a kid, you’re asked, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ I wanted to be so many things that my answer was different every time: a veterinarian, a ballerina, a teacher, an astronaut,” Alexis says. “My adopted mom would always say that if I wanted to be any of those things, I needed to do well in school and go to college.”

Although Alexis says she will always be grateful for her adopted mom’s encouragement, her placement did not work out. At age 15, she was separated from her sister and re-entered foster care.

High school was tough for Alexis. She went to four different high schools in three years. “I had to un-enroll and re-enroll. Un-enroll and re-enroll,” she says.

Despite the instability she faced, she fought to keep up in school and maintain the 4.0 GPA she had held her entire life. Finally, her senior year approached with the promise of stability. She would be able to stay at one high school for the entire school year, which made her feel safe and able to engage in a genuine high school experience.

“I was so excited. I joined the drama club, went to sports games, attended school functions, and even got comfortable with the idea of making friends,” she says.

But because she was behind in the courses she needed to graduate, she had to play catch-up the entire year. Every day during lunch, she would do extra online courses in the computer lab to ensure she would graduate on time. Having no time to eat was very stressful, and she also had to juggle other school work and activities.

“I was so worried about the graduation deadline and how I was going to afford college that I couldn’t enjoy the blissful thought of graduating soon,” she says. “But I persevered, because I wasn’t going to let my past dictate my future.”

Alexis was awarded all the scholarships she applied for and accepted into every college she applied to. She chose to attend the college of her dreams, Washington State University.

“I turned 18 in February, which meant that I would be aging out of the foster care system and would no longer be a ward of the state. This was a big relief, knowing that I would have the independence to make my own choices,” she says.

But after she aged out of care, she found herself homeless months before her high school graduation. Fortunately her boyfriend’s mom gave her a place to stay until she began college. “I graduated high school with a 3.9 GPA, which I am very proud of. But at the time, I couldn’t help but think that it would have been a 4.0 if circumstances had been different,” she says.

The beginning of her freshman year of college was the first time since entering foster care when she felt completely in control of her life, and she was excited that she could attend the same college for all four years without having to move. “I had some worries, but I didn’t feel afraid,” she says. “I felt free.”

Alexis first learned about College Success Foundation and the resources CSF provides during a course on how to navigate her first year at college. Through CSF, she met other former foster youth on campus and gained a community who understood her challenges. A fellow CSF Scholar and mentor, Kris, encouraged her to apply for the Congressional Coalition Adoption Institute’s Foster Youth Internship Program in Washington, D.C., helped guide her through the application process and gave interview tips.

Alexis was one of 12 from across the nation who were chosen for the program. She interned for U.S. Senator Patty Murray and worked in the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. She also wrote and published a policy report on placement instability within the child welfare system that she presented to the Domestic Policy Council at the White House.

When Alexis returned from Washington, D.C. to begin her senior year of college, she was selected to participate in the Washington Legislative Internship Program. Charise, a CSF Scholar and PhD student, helped Alexis edit her essay and taught her professional writing skills. “In my moments of stress and frustration, Charise helped bring me down to earth and focus on the finish line,” Alexis says.

During the internship, Alexis learned about the bill writing process and child welfare policy. “In college I learned about the science of politics, but there, I got to put it into practice and see it in action,” she says. “I also got to meet and learn about groups who are passionate about the issues that foster and homeless youth face.”

Alexis also researched programs and solutions to youth homelessness in Washington state and presented this research to First Lady Trudi Inslee, one of many leaders who champion child welfare issues. “It was inspiring to be among people who want to make the system better,” Alexis says.

Despite the fact that less than 3 percent of foster youth graduate from college, Alexis is officially a college graduate. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in fine arts, and she plans to pursue a career in public policy with a focus on foster and homeless youth. She also plans to get a master’s degree in public policy and become an advocate for children and youth in the foster care system.

“All of the fears, doubts, and stress I had when I began this journey have disappeared, and I know that with hard work and determination, I am capable of achieving anything I want,” she says. “I will continue to be a voice for the voiceless, and I am excited to use my talents so that foster youth will never have to live in a world where barriers prevent them from entering and succeeding in higher education.”