'It felt like everything was falling into place' - helping a young person apply to college
Throughout National Care Leavers Week we’re raising awareness of support and resources available for young people with care experience and their foster carers to help them apply for college or university. Foster carer Jacqueline has shared her experience with us.
This summer I had the honour of supporting my lovely foster daughter Leigh throughout the application process to attend college. Leigh hadn’t really enjoyed her time at school so we spent a lot of time thinking about the correct course. She enjoys being active and since living with me discovered a love for dry slope skiing, driving the ambition to one day become a ski instructor!
We found the perfect sports course for her at a local college and then we began the nail-biting journey. She was offered an interview, and we were so pleased for her. Preparing for the interview really took her out of her comfort zone, but we made sure we practiced potential questions that might be asked, but also what to say if she was asked about living in care.
We went through as many scenarios as we could and when the interview day came I made sure she was ready to cope with the nerves, as this was all so new to her. She did amazingly in the interview and was offered a place! She was so proud of herself and so were we. It was so wonderful to see her response.
It felt like everything was falling into place – she was talking about lots of positive changes she was going to make to her life. We then had GSCE exams to get through, but now she had a purpose in life she wanted those qualifications – I even found her quietly revising for maths in her room one day without me nagging her to, which was a huge achievement for her. Sometimes it’s the subtle things that are the most poignant.
In every exam she tried her best, which is all we could have asked for. Next it was the results and the college decision day – and she was in! We were all so overjoyed. She had such huge excitement for what was coming next. Of course she had worries about starting a new college and how to tell people she’s in care. But now she’s a young person who gets herself up every day, goes into college full time, gets buses, does her work and has been praised by her tutor for getting the top mark in maths.
She can now see an amazing future for herself. She has totally transformed from the young person that came to me three years ago and it has been a privilege to see it. She has blossomed into a hard working, motivated young person and to be a part of that process has been a real privilege.
