Mareena P. / You are stronger than you know

In foster care, Mareena lived in a group home with all girls. There were two women who ran the home. Mareena wishes they would have taken the time to talk to her and learn about her story and background. She wishes she was able to express how scared she was and feel comforted.

The biggest challenge that Mareena faced in foster care was managing her time between schoolwork and the 2 hour travel time to/from school. She overcame this by doing a lot of her schoolwork on the bus.

The most anxiety-inducing part about being placed in foster care was that she wasn’t told what was going to happen. She wasn’t sure about what meals she’d be eating because the woman at the group home didn’t cook. She had anxiety about how long she would be there.

She says that something foster youth experience that others’ don’t is the uncertainty of what her life was going to be like. Before foster care, she was sure about her plans.

Once she was placed in foster care, it didn’t feel like she had a voice anymore. She had no say in what would happen to her and no idea what to expect.

The holidays also weren’t the same once she entered foster care. She was always around new people and some of the other girls in the homes weren’t kind. The woman who ran the home didn’t do anything special for the holidays.

Being in foster care affected the kind of social life she had because lost communication with the friends she had from kindergarten all the way through eighth grade.

Being in foster care also affected her performance as a student. Prior to being in foster care, she was an honors student and was taking honors classes. After foster care, she was forced to go to a high school that was an hour away from her new home because the other school was full. She became exhausted and her grades dropped.

Something that brought her comfort while she was in foster care was knowing that she wouldn’t be there forever. She reminded herself that she would soon be an adult and would have more control over her life. She reminded herself to keep pushing and to stay on track because that was all she had.

Mareena encourages to keep pushing through education. She says that, “Education means making yourself better and more knowledgeable than you were yesterday. Never stop learning, every day is another opportunity to make better choices”

When Mareena was emancipating from the system, she needed guidance on how to navigate life as an adult, and someone to listen to her. This was something she didn’t have.

Mareena believes that the general public can help bring awareness to the programs available to kids in foster care. Donating to programs can be a huge help.

Mareena would like to see social workers and foster parents actually taking time to listen to the kids and learn about their needs and experiences.

An accomplishment that makes her proud is that she started college in 2021 and is ready to graduate next month! In 5 years she sees herself working as a special education teacher, giving back to the youth by listening and being patient with them.

The piece of advice that she would give to those in foster care now is “not to give up, life might be incredibly difficult right not but I promise it will get better; please remember you are stronger than you know.”