Admission Essay

"A diamond cannot be polished without friction, nor the person perfected without trials." -- Chinese Proverb

The truth of this proverb has only become clear to me in the past few years as I have had to grow and mature at an accelerated rate due to the misfortunes of my family and my own increasing drive to ensure that I arm myself with the tools to build a stable life. For the past four years of my life D.Y.F.S. has been involved with me. At times this was good but it was mostly bad. I often wonder what kind of career I would be driven to pursue if events in my life had not transpired as they did with D.Y.F.S. Perhaps I would take my love of cooking to the next step and be pursuing culinary school right now rather than applying to the Governor's School of Public Issues with the dream of being a politician. You can't, however, change the past, and at least I can be grateful that I have been spurred on in a positive direction from the events that changed my family forever. Thanks to being in foster care I have seen some of the flaws that society has and I have decided to try and change some of them.

In the past two years of my life D.Y.F.S. has turned my life upside down. I have changed schools so many times I don't even attempt to count them. The only years I have stayed in the same school were third, fifth, and eighth grade. In my sophomore year I changed schools three times and because of that I lost fifteen credits and have had to repeat three courses. The Governor's School is a very important opportunity for me. This school would give me a jump start in the field I dream of being in. I have been held back by things that are utterly out of my control, but this school would give me a chance to change all that.

I have moved many times in my life and I have spent the majority of my time in New Jersey. Most of the hardships I have suffered have taken place here. Be it when I was made homeless by a hurricane, taken away from my parents, or made to feel inadequate simply because of my identity, I have had a tough time here. Due to all of this equality is my number one goal. I know what it is like to be treated like you don't matter. I have often experienced this because I am a lesbian and I don't fit societies mold. I aim to change peoples understandings of me and of others like me. All of this has led me on my path and I have concluded that, the state of New Jersey needs help, as does the rest of the country. The D.Y.F.S. system is a flawed division that needs better guidance. The welfare system fails to help families in dire need, while they provide