Finding Stability, Support, and Success: Joy’s story

“The willingness of everyone to help me has been very shocking. I really appreciate not being thrown around everywhere. Dafne's been helping with essentially everything. And she's been following up with me constantly. And that's been a game changer.”

Like many NWEdA students, Joy’s childhood was not an easy one. She shared, “Growing up, my parents had their own personal struggles, and they didn't really have the capacity to raise me. And so throughout my childhood, I had multiple CPS investigations open, and efforts were made to relocate me. Because of that, I had pretty severe housing instability, and I didn't really go to school during that time. In eighth grade, I think I went to school for less than a week during the entire school year.”

Despite her fragmented journey, Joy has always been motivated to continue her education. While working with a lawyer at the Legal Council for Youth and Children, Joy was directed to a variety of resources, which included Northwest Education Access. This is when she met Dafne, her current education advocate. 

With NWEdA’s support, Joy enrolled in Lake Washington’s Institute of Technology’s High School program, where she is able to finish high school while also pursuing an associates degree.

Joy told us, “I really appreciate the wraparound support that Dafne provides. She's been helping me with essentially everything. We meet regularly and she's helped me apply to scholarships that connect me to tutors, volunteers, look for jobs, search for low-income housing, and plan my academic future.

Joy has also appreciated having Dafne there to advocate for her: “I think as a non-traditional student, I've dealt with people at school, like school counselors, or even teachers, kind of brush me off. I really wasn't supported. And I had to constantly advocate for myself. And even then, it felt like no one cared—it was extremely discouraging. And I think that's when you guys helped a lot with that. It's having someone by your side and do it with you.”

Already, Joy has much to be proud of. Instead of another “withdrawn” on her transcript, she was able to complete her first “real quarter” of school last Fall. She shared, “I got a 4.0 in 20 credits, had nearly perfect attendance, and met some amazing peers along the way. This quarter is also going great. So far, I'm on track to getting another 4.0 in 20 credits and have been working on being more active in my classes and adding extracurricular commitments, such as research and hospital volunteering. I've also begun a project with a friend with the intention of submitting it to the school's publication The Lion's Pride. Dafne has been overseeing this and has been encouraging me to go outside my comfort zone.”

Despite a rocky start, Joy is determined to succeed and already knows what she wants in life. Her current associates degree in bioengineering and chemical engineering, and she hopes to follow this with an MD and Phd—she’s already studying for the MCAT! Joy’s end goal is to open her own plastic surgery clinic. 

For now, Joy is just enjoying the pleasure of being a student. She shared, “It might sound a little weird, but I'm really enjoying going to school full time. And it's like living the life of a student because I wasn't able to in the past. I've been learning a lot from my classes. I've made a lot of new friends from studying. And that's really made me happy.”