A letter to my younger self
Hi, I’m Danielle. I’m 24, I have a first class degree, 2 children, a job in the department for education and I’m a care leaver.
Currently, around only 6% of care leavers between 19 and 21 enter higher education. This is such a low number for an opportunity that can really improve your life and I think it’s time we start to change this.
So, for any care leavers that are thinking of attending university, I want to share my experience, the challenges I faced in my journey and the things that helped me to succeed.
After years in the care system, my self-worth was destroyed. I thought that nobody wanted me and that I’d amount to nothing. I then became a mother very young. At 16, I had a son, was living alone, and had no one around me to help. I honestly thought that my life was over. However, at 19, I took the leap to enter education again. As a bit of luck, it turned out that the college course I was taking could get me into university. Through a little bit of...