In response to Deb Stone’s May 12 essay on foster care, Jaquel Pitts shares his successes after 14 years as a foster child.
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At the age of five I was placed in foster care. Growing up during my younger years there was a negative stigma that foster care youth would never be successful in life, let along achieve a higher education. That negative stigma persuaded me to prove the critics wrong by graduating form a public high school in 2012.
I graduated from College of the Siskiyous in May 2012 with a degree in Social Science. I never listened to or believed in the statistics because I realized it only took one individual to believe that he or she could be successful and that individual was myself.
I never allowed someone else’s life outcome to dictate my future success. I am a first generation high school and college graduate and it is because I want to prove to my family that anything is possible if you believe and stay focused through your path toward success. Throughout my high school days I was very popular because I would speak future accomplishments into existence.
In November 2014 I will declare for the 2015 NFL Draft. In December 2016 I will receive another degree from the University of Bridgeport.
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This article originally appeared on Stir Journal.
Photos courtesy of author.
this guy is full of shit.