Who I’m Becoming

Where I Started

I was born in Anchorage, Alaska 26 years ago. I am the 3^rd of 4 children I was raised with, though there is an oldest one that I’ve never really met. My dad went to jail when I was 3 years old after receiving his 11^th DUI and spent the majority of my childhood behind bars. He and my mother separated around that same time, though they never got divorced because “It wasn’t worth the paperwork.” I spent a large part of my earlier years with my grandparents while my mom worked but she did her best to make time for volunteering in school and taking us to church on Sunday. My little brother was born 8 years after me and a couple years later my grandparents moved down south.

Entering Adulthood

I still consider myself in the beginning of adulthood, but it’s been a long 8 years since I turned 18 so it warrants its own section. My nephew was born when I was 17 and within the first week, we realized that perhaps my brother and his fiancé weren’t quite a prepared as we thought. The situation continued to decline over the first half of his life until we realized that both of his parents were struggling with addiction. I got guardianship of him when I was 18 with the hope that his parents would go to treatment and come back ready to parent. As time progressed it became clear that it wouldn’t work how I imagined it.

Eventually, after having guardianship for nearing 4 years of struggle and nearly no contact I filed for petition to adopt, and it was finalized when I was 22 and he was 4. During that time, I did a year of college and then decided to take a break before going back after the adoption was finalized. A few months later my father suffered a series of strokes that landed him in the hospital for 5 months and gained me emergency guardianship to make medical decisions. He came home after 5 months with nearly no cognitive skills and unable to do anything unassisted. For the next 2 years I was his caregiver until a series of hospital stays led me to putting him on hospice and he passed shortly after.

Where I Am Now

I’ve been back in college for a year now and will complete my associate in human services this semester after I finish my Practicum. Afterwards, I will continue to my bachelors in social work. I am currently enrolled in UAA but I’m considering switching to UAF because of the online program.  I am a single mom to a pretty rad 8-year-old who keeps all my evening packed full of sports, as well as a full class load, working full time, and an internship at OCS. Needless to say I have no idea how I would even begin to go about doing in person classes that take place and hour away from me.

As of right now I’m zoned into child welfare and I’m enjoying doing my internship at OCS. I’ve had this saying since I was young that, “Every child deserves to be somebody’s first priority.” It’s nice to be around individuals who have the same mindset and has certainly been eye opening. Social workers have helped me immensely over the years, especially during my father’s hospital stay. They were always the people with the answers or the direction in which to find them which is why I ultimately decided to move into that degree instead of a bachelors in human services.

Where I’m Going

Where I’m going is still a mystery. I’ll finish my associates at the end of this school year and will more than likely apply to OCS when I’m finished with my practicum. I know it’s where I want to start but I doubt its where I want to stay. I haven’t quite figured that part out yet, but social work is such a diverse field I know I’ll find where I want to land. My only real focus on becoming competent as a social worker so that I can help whichever population I work alongside.