When I grow up I want to be a Social Worker: that's my dream career. I want to be able to help children who are being abused, and neglected by their parents. I want to be able to help a child who has a parent that is a substance abuser help better themselves and their families. Foster children should know that they are not alone in the world even though their parents can't care for them like they want to. Foster care is the last place a child wants to be, away from family, friends, and their old neighborhood adjusting to a new environment.

Children have to deal with a lot of adjusting. Being a part of a new family can make them feel alone because they don't have Mommy and Daddy right beside them making them feel better. Adjusting in a foster home can be really hard especially if the foster parents have children of their own, children can get abusive verbally saying things that are really mean making them think that they are better than you because you don't live with your parents. I think that can cause a lot of stress on the foster child when other children tease and harass you about being in foster care, it hurts because you always have that specific child who always says "your parent doesn't care about you." or "your parent didn't want you that's why you're in foster care".

My heart goes out to foster parents they really have big hearts for inviting children they have not met a day in their life into their homes to be apart of a real and loving family. However there are some cons in this specific situation as there are foster parents doing this specific thing for a little extra cash. My heart goes out to the children that are living in foster homes because I know that you are being strong never knowing what is going to happen tomorrow.

I want to make their lives better in some kind of way. Foster children have the right to be loved just like any other children in the world; I mean just because their parents are substance abusers or are not able to care for their children doesn't make them any different from other children. Children in the system are often verbally abused by other children because of what their status is. I want to make a difference in their life to show them there is more to life than just being placed in home after home. I want to be able to put a smile on a child's face. A lot of people get up out of their bed and go to their job destinations. A job and a career have two different definitions. A job is a destination you go to everyday for that paycheck that you will receive every two weeks. A career is something that you love to do. I know in my future I would enjoy being a social worker helping different families make better lives for themselves and their children.

- Catherine, 17