My life could be described as a rollercoaster. I am someone who has grown up in the foster care system for most of my life. My name is Averie Smith and I consider myself as a Survivor.
I am a Senior at Longwood University in the Social work department. As of now I am currently involved within the Social work community as the secretary for Federation of Students Social Workers and Phi Alpha Honor Society. Also, I am a member of the National Honor Society of Leadership and Success. I transferred to Longwood during my second year of College from Tidewater Community College in Virginia Beach.
Throughout my experience in the foster care system I was most curious about the amount of children that suffer from the hands of others. As a child, I did not understand why people could allow for children to get hurt or worse from adults that has no business having children.
When I first applied to Longwood University I went into the field of Special Education with a minor in Sign Language. Previously I worked at a private academy preschool with children that have special needs. I was interested in learning more about this area since I had noticed that this field of work needed more people. But once I got into the major I realized that it was not something I could not complete. My roommate at the time told me about her major in Social work along with the materials. At that moment I discovered a new found love for an area that I knew a great deal about.
As a child growing up in the foster care system I did not know all of the pieces that fit together in order to take care of a child. During the time before I was adopted my files of my whole life had been lost. As a result of this situation my aunt and uncle were contacted about information on my history, which lead to my adoption. Since my field of study is Social Work I have learned how online information can be more beneficial than paper materials. As a result of this knowledge I have been able to locate much of the lost information about my history growing up in the system and much more.