KINGSVILLE, Tx — Going to college isn’t always easy. It cost money and takes resources and helps to fill out an application and learn about the new university community. For many, parents help out with these things during college preparation season. But what about those that may not have parents?
Child Protective Services and Texas A&M University-Kingsville have teamed up to make a college education a dream come true for foster kids.
“It isn’t our choice. It isn’t our fault for being in this predicament. They don’t really see you as a normal person. Once the foster kid label is there, it’s stuck there. They don’t think you can go from foster kid to anything else once that label has been put on you,” former foster child Elijah Luna said.
He and two dozen other foster children headed to TAMUK Friday to hear about the possibility of life after the system.
“It seemed kind of difficult to see that being for me, especially coming from a low-income family,” Luna said.
The Fostering Towards Success Program offers not only free tuition, but free housing and free meal plans for those who age out of foster care or who are adopted. In fact, the State of Texas will grant a tuition waiver for public schools in Texas if a foster child is accepted and would like to attend.
The children who attended Friday’s event were able to listen to various stakeholder organizations that support Child Protective Services mission. They also had a chance to tour the dormitories to see where they could potentially live later on down the line as well as speak with current university students who were part of the program.
As for Luna, he said he wouldn’t be where he’s at if it wasn’t for all this help.
“I really didn’t see myself doing anything with my life but after hearing all these benefits and all these things that are there to help me it gave me a vision that there's so many things I can do. I can be a university graduate, a doctor, a lawyer,” Luna said.
Luna said he’s ready to become a Javelina and take advantage of the opportunity. He plans to join the College of Agriculture to study Plant and Soil Sciences.
“During quarantine, I was stuck at home and had nothing to do. I started gardening and I loved it. Oh man, I loved it. Seeing things grow and seeing how big they can get and wanting to learn okay what can I do to make these plants the best they can be,” Luna said.
His passion for growing things is a metaphor for this program, giving foster children fertile ground for them to grow and mature.
“I feel like a lot of fosters don’t really see the potential they have. They have a lot of things going for them especially with all these benefits. They just need to push themselves towards it,” Luna said.
There are currently 40 former foster children enrolled at TAMUK under the program.
“It’s very admirable. They aren’t living my dream, but they kind of are in a way,” Luna said.
Luna has a PAL. That stands for Preparation for Adult Living Specialist, and her name is Vicki Shular.
“Elijah as very excited. He’s been talking about it, told me all week he was so excited. He was up early this morning waiting on me. I said I’ll be there at 6:45 and he was ready at 6:45,” Shular said.
She said it’s a rewarding job and she’s formed and fostered many relationships through the program with those who are now out of the system but still keep in touch.
“When you see the light bulb go off and they’re like okay I get it now, these are the things I need to do if I want the life I want to live. It’s just an amazing experience to work with them, it really is,” Shular said.
The free tuition waiver is usable for any higher education, meaning a trade school, community college, bachelor, masters or even PhD. As long as students take 6 credit hours before they turn 25, they will have that waiver for life.
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