Ashley M. Lopez Foster Care Scholarship

My education plans consist of completing high school and then attending Ball State to obtain a degree in social work. My career aspirations were completely defined by my experience as a foster child when I was younger, and the fact that my family is currently a foster family, so I am still being affected and influenced by the foster care system on a daily basis. I lived with my birth parents until I was four years old, but I was removed from their household after several incidents involving drugs, alcohol, abuse, and neglect occurred. I was then placed in foster care and lived in a few different foster homes until I was adopted on my eighth birthday. My current family has since then obtained their fostering license again and several children have resided in our home through the foster care system and even through respite during a few weekends. I have not only experienced the trials and emotions of being a foster child, but I have been able to see the ways other kids have been affected through experiencing similar circumstances. We currently have ten people in our household, three of them being foster kids, and one of which we are currently in the process of adopting. We have had two of the children for more than a year now, a two-year-old girl and a four-year-old boy, and it has been such a unique and incredible opportunity to watch them grow up and learn from us. They, of course, are not at the age yet where they completely understand the details of their circumstances, and they haven't really had any sense of feeling like they don't belong or were discarded by their birth parents. Although, when I was in foster care, I was old enough to understand these things, and a feeling of loss and shame was usually incorporated into my daily thoughts and mentality. I have also seen similar emotional instabilities in the fifteen-year-old foster boy that has been living with us for six months or so. Seeing such insecurities and vulnerabilities in other people is something that affects me greatly personally, especially when I come from a similar background as the people who are struggling, so these things have most definitely influenced the career aspirations I have composed for my future. Being a social worker takes an immense amount of dedication, compassion, and kindness, and these are all traits that I desire to expand and improve upon daily, so being active in this line of work will not only be beneficial for my attempts at improving my own character and personality, but I can also work to refine and enhance the mentalities and mannerisms of others. Serving others and sacrificing my time, energy, and resources for others has always been something that I am passionate about, even to the extent where I may be hurt in the process. It is exceedingly important to me that others are happy and know their self-worth, so I am more than willing to sacrifice what is needed to assist others with the betterment of themselves. Social work is a wonderful opportunity to take part in making positive impacts on the lives of others, all while being an extremely rewarding and gratifying career, and I am thankful for the experiences I have had that led me to such aspirations for my future.