Jose Montanez Memorial Scholarship

I was adopted from the foster care system when I was 3 years and 2 months old. I came from the hospital directly to my first foster home. My biological mother was addicted to meth, and I was born with meth in my system. I spent the first five days of my life detoxing. My adoptive mother (who was the nice of my first foster placement) held me that first day and fell in love. She was told that I may not walk, talk, be developmentally delayed and have learning disabilities. She didn't care; she loved me. I ended up going back home to live with some biological family, but within a few weeks I was back into the system. At this time both of my older sisters were already in the system. At this time it was decided that due to the situation of this case (drugs, child abuse, assault) that I would most like be an adoption outcome. I know that my foster care story isn't as tragic as others, but thru this situation I had to watch my older sisters be bounced around from home to home (my adoptive mom tried to get them, also). I also had to have the knowledge that my biological mother had another child after me and she (my biological mother) passed away right at my third birthday. At that time my little sister came to live with us. I then had to watch my adoptive parents stress and cry over my little sister, if her biological father would take her away from us. Foster Care can be amazing situation when you have the staff working in your best interest. In mine and my baby sister's case, they were amazing and worked hard for us to have the best life we could have all within the guidelines of the law. To this day both the caseworkers and adoption caseworker checks in on us. I play hockey for our local hockey youth program and one of my best friends was also adopted thru Foster Care. This made Foster Care not a dirty word, but a family. When I help coach or referee the new generation of hockey players, I take the extra time to get to know each athlete, to build them up and to make sure each one feels love. You don't know what any person is going thru, so I want to make sure that, at least to me, that I made them feel as I felt, wanted and loved.

My name is Anna Camp. I will be the first person to graduate from high school from my family. I didn't have a typical childhood. My birth Mom had me and my twin when she was 19. Our birth Father was not dating my Mom. He was 54 years old. It was a drug transaction. I was in Foster Care for 9 years. My first memory was that my Twin Sister and I would always be alone. My Mom was asleep or gone. We knew that our Neighbor would give us food so we relied on her. When I was 2, I had to go into the system for the first time. My Mom wanted to get away so she gave us to one of her drug buddies. Long story short they found us 2 months later 4 hours away. We went to our Aunt and Uncle's house. My Mom went to rehab; and got pregnant, 9 months later I had a little sister 3 years younger than me. I moved back in with my Mom. I had to take care of a Baby when I was 3 years old. I was changing diapers and making sure we had food at 3. There was one time I remember most of all. My little Sister; 1 at the time. Was so thirsty and I couldn't reach the sink so she got water out of the toilet. Imagine being so thirsty that you drink out of the toilet. But that was my normal. I knew nothing else. It was hard when I realized that Washington state rules that if you were adopted after 13 then you get your whole college paid. I was in a terrible situation for 9 years and the state making that age bracket after they gave off this “I wanna help all the kids succeed” motto is frustrating. The State says they care about foster kids and want to support them. They're supposed to take care of us but they only wanna protect their money. Did you know that only 32% of foster kids graduate high school? “Approximately 512,000 children were in foster care on the last day of 2006” which is the year I was born. That means out of 512,00 only 163,840 will graduate high school. “Less than 10% of foster youth pursue higher education. Only 3% will graduate with a four-year degree. Less than 0.5 -1% will graduate with a master's or higher” At most 15,360 kids will graduate college and 5,120 kids will get a master's or higher. With those odds against us, why try? I took a health class when I was a freshman. The teacher's name was Ms. Karkau. She showed me it's possible to break that cycle. It took me a while to realize that I wanted to pursue a career in psychology and eventually earn my Ph.D. to work with children and help them get their lives on track. I am eager to attend this college because I am passionate about making a difference. I aim to care for and support the next generation as much as I can, so they can break their cycles and live the lives they desire, not the lives they were born into. Ultimately, I want to care for kids in my situation and help them know that people care about them. I want to be in control. I want to make a difference in the world. I want to be an advocate for children who live lives like mine.

Yes, I was in the foster care system. Napoleon Hill once proclaimed, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” Coming from substantial adversity and struggle, I am inclined to agree with this statement. For a large portion of my childhood I grew up in an environment where I was surrounded by drug usage, prostitution, and homelessness. I was placed in and out of the foster care system, never knowing who’s couch I would be sleeping on that night. Luckily for me, I was adopted out of this atrocious situation and was given a second chance at a childhood, family, and life. But instead of balling my resentment for my situation into anger, I use it as motivation to make change. I am committed to turning my adversity into success and positivity. .When I was 13 years old, my biological mother passed away due to a drug overdose. This happenstance opened my eyes to the world as it was and the tribulation my local community faces. At 14, my brother passed away at the hands of a firearm. His death took a significant toll on me both mentally and emotionally. For a while, I felt distraught and futile but as I realized the mental catastrophic repercussions I was allowing myself to be dragged into, I decided it was time for a change. I wanted to take all my challenges and heartache and turn it into something optimistic. I started participating in community service, hoping that giving back to others would help ease the tragedy that lived in my head. With much success, I continued my volunteering journey and completely fell in love with philanthropy. The mental health journey I trekked on as I overcame adversity led me to deciding on a dream career that would suit me best. I decided to become a psychiatric nurse and lead the fight for change in my community. I fancy becoming the helping hand that I didn’t have during my times of struggle. I thrive to give back and assist those who need it. I want to construct an efficacious impact in my work and change the lives of others who need the support to regain a positive mental mindset. Through my hardwork and determination, I have overcome major adversity and desire to take that diligence to provide others the opportunity to overcome their own adversities. Napoleon’s seed of adversity has helped me sprout a bud of alacritous zeal that will continue to grow into a flower of success.

Yes, during the ages of 7-10 I was in the foster care system. I was taken away from my mother at the age of 7 and reunited with her at 10. Several years after my placement into foster care, specifically in my sophomore year of high school, I had endured severe trauma, resulting in me losing motivation for my education. I no longer enjoyed several passions I had loved before, and I resented the feelings I was experiencing. Having to deal with traumatic flashbacks and consistent reminders conjured feelings of heavy depression and anxiety. These strong emotions led to me attempting suicide in both my sophomore and junior years of highschool. After about a week into my second stay, I was gifted art supplies by an incredibly kind nurse, and I found happiness through art. I hadn’t felt mentally strengthened in so long, and realized I wasn’t the only one in this state. After wanting to do something meaningful, I decided to bring color to a place that lacked thereof. With the assistance of nurses, we gathered 9 other patients who I could share my materials with, and we made art together. I taught them to make origami which hung from the ceiling, spiderweb cutouts for the windows, and drawings. Seeing the glow in their eyes when they realized that they were capable of making something on their own is a memory I will never forget. I felt alleviated once I saw that I was able to help kids see positivity through creation. Tranquility settled through me, and for a few fleeting moments, I forgot the environment I was in. I vividly remember leaving, looking up at the tall windows from across the street and seeing one, lone window covered in spiderwebs and drawings. I felt like I made a real life change, minuscule or not. Regardless of its importance to the outside world, I knew I made a positive impact on the patients I created with. I realized then that by becoming an Art Teacher, I would be able to continue doing what I love while showing others success in themselves, helping students feel positive through creativity and inclusivity. This is where my future as an Art Teacher became an incipient beauty. I know that art can be a healthy outlet for students if they’re given the artistic space to make new things through their own means. This freedom is often restricted in academic classrooms, as subjects including math and english have set rules for what is “right” and “wrong”. The beautiful world of art is far from this black and white filter, and I aspire to show teens the beauty in a classroom with originality. Art is something many children doubt themselves in, and by providing a healthy learning environment, I would be able to help kids accomplish the level of potential that they’ve always been capable of. New things can be made with those of old, causing up and rising artists to fall in love with a hobby. To be an enabler of such an awe-inspiring process would be a way for me to help teens in ways beyond what shows on the surface. Teaching is something that I can see myself doing until retirement, as my educators growing up were people who have helped me emotionally and physically through my struggles of mental health. I want to be able to provide this helping hand to teens, as many students haven’t had someone offering them the level of support they need. Kids deserve to be heard, and I aim to help students feel like they belong.