Foster Child (Jan-Feb 2010)
Posted by South Mountain Villager on February 9, 2010
A Special Foster Child
“I’ve always pictured my happily ever after,” says 15-year old Bryan, with “video games, soda pop, popcorn.” He laughs and says, “Just 
kidding… (I picture) a mom, a dad, couple brothers, one older, one little – just a full family. You know, we get in the mini van and go down to the beach for a day, go in the water, draw in the sand, that kind of stuff.”
As Bryan grows and matures, he tries to balance his interests and obligations. He says, “(People) are always saying I’ve made drastic improvements but I don’t see my improvements but in some ways when I get an Aha moment. I did this when I could have done this.”
Describing one of his Aha moments, Bryan says, “Four weeks before my freshman year was over, I realized I’ve only got four weeks left as a freshman in high school. I’m going to remember the last four weeks as a freshman. Because you’re not a freshman forever, you’re only a freshman for one year.
The result of his Aha moment was an improvement in his concentration and grades. Bryan states, “I turned my grades around, started behaving in class. I actually did my work and wanted to succeed. I finished all my classes with only one C, As and Bs the rest of the way.”
He thinks of what brought on this change within him. Bryan says, “I guess it’s a part of growing up. We all have to mature sometime. Because if we don’t, one day we’re going to be walking on the street and we’re going to get a reality check. We can’t just go around doing what we want to do when we want to do it.”
In keeping with his new grown up attitude, Bryan acknowledges, “There’s a lot of options still ahead of me. I have high hopes of maybe becoming an automotive engineer. I’d personally like to design software, improve navigation, maybe have it like you could have satellite, like Google maps maybe.”
He hopes a family will take a chance, even if they think they’d like to adopt a younger child. In order to convince a potential new family, Bryan smiles and says, “Pretty, pretty please! No, I’ve always had the hope that the right family will come along. Maybe a family will adopt me… you always have to have hope, stay strong and live happily ever after.”
For more information on Bryan or any of Arizona’s waiting children, please call 1-877-KidsNeedU (1-877-543-7633) or visit www.azkidsneedu.gov.
