Imagine a scenario where a seven year-old child has experienced physical abuse in their home and is desperate to leave. The child tells a neighbor, and Child Protective Services is involved. After CPS has done a thorough investigation of the home and interviewed the neighbor, the child’s living situation is deemed unsafe. Following this incident, the child is removed from the abusive home by CPS and the child is set to live in a temporary foster home. Unfortunately, while the child is staying with this foster guardian, the situation takes a turn for the worse. The guardian abuses their power over the child, and is neglectful. The child is feeling anxious and hopeless after leaving their previous home, and now, isn’t quite sure what to do. This situation is new to them, and their mind hasn’t yet developed enough to process the abuse that’s happened to them. They’re unsure of what to tell the staff member when asked about how their foster parent is, as this sort of abuse is all that they know. The child will then proceed to say that everything is fine, and the staff member will acknowledge that, not questioning the child any further. My goal is to help benefit the foster care system the best that I can. I’ve had family and peers who were previously neglected by the same system, and their stories are something that you would have never expected from a system that is built on helping children in need. Growing up, I didn’t show interest in raising children. I feel that this is common, because when you’re young you don’t value the thought of being around children. Before my sophomore year, I wasn’t interested in Criminal Justice, and I even despised it. I didn’t have anything in mind for what I wanted to study, I was considering engineering but that was only because it’s what paid well. I didn’t have a passion at this age. It wasn’t until my sophomore year that I began to reconsider. I was placed in the Criminal Justice pathway due to the engineering course not having enough people sign up for it, so it was dropped. I hated this, I hated law enforcement and anything that had to do with it, I was stubborn. I didn’t care about my coursework and I was satisfied with the thought of passing with a C. However, my teacher changed my opinion about Criminal Justice completely. My mom started to also throw in ideas within Criminal Justice, such as forensics and social work. My interest started to grow, as I realized there was more to it than just law enforcement. I became more interested in this pathway and participated in class and my work. This teacher would also speak on her opinion of foster care, as she had rough experience with it as well. Hearing her stories made me reconsider working with children, and since Criminal Justice offered a similar field, my passion grew. After graduating from high school, I plan to dual major in Criminal Justice and Psychology. I’d like to pursue a career in the social work aspect of Criminal Justice, rather than law enforcement. I’ve always wanted to foster, and becoming a forensic interviewer or counselor could help me fulfill that. Not only would I be benefiting the foster care system by doing this, but I’m also learning proper psychological tools to use when parenting. The communication between me and the child that I am fostering will be handled better compared to other cases of foster adults I have heard.