Cheyenne’s Law School Journey

Hello! My name is Cheyenne, and I am 26 years old. I am on my way to accomplishing a lifelong dream of mine of becoming an attorney! I was accepted into the University of Connecticut Law School and will begin classes this summer. This is a huge accomplishment, especially for me, as I have beaten all the odds and statistics about foster youths educational achievements.

 

I spent spent a majority of my life in foster care in Los Angeles County where I got pregnant with my daughter, Layla, at 16. I went to live at St. Anne’s Maternity Home, a level 12 group home near Echo Park. The odds were stacked against me as a single teen parent, and I was not even expected to graduate high school—BUT I graduated from High School in 2013. In addition, I went on to graduate from the University of California, Riverside in 2018 with my BA in Political Science and Public Policy. I then landed my first professional role as a Legal Assistant at the Alliance for Children’s Rights, an incredible non-profit law firm in Los Angeles helping children, youth, and families who are also impacted by the child welfare system as I was.  

My work at the Alliance reinforced and solidified my desire to attend law school to become an attorney.

Here is where I need your help! I am grateful and fortunate enough to have received partial aid from UCONN, but financial aid for former foster youth to attend graduate school is limited.  I still have a significant unmet need as tuition alone is $60,000 a year.

My community and support systems have supported me to get to this moment. I am now hoping that my community, friends, family, and supporters can help me get one step closer to my lifelong dream of becoming an attorney.

Anything raised will allow me to move cross country from Los Angeles to Hartford, Connecticut, assist with paying for our housing, health insurance for myself and my daughter, and other basic needs.

 

Anything helps and I am thrilled to be beginning this new chapter of my life with my daughter—please share with your networks as I hope to achieve my goal of reaching $10,000.

With love and gratitude,

-Cheyenne