“Ten years ago, I was sitting in a juvenile detention cell in East Tennessee, alone, wondering if I would get home in time to start high school.

I wouldn’t.

I never made it back home. I entered the custody of the state, spending years in juvenile justice and foster care placements. Eventually, I turned 18 in a Nashville group home and exited the system, alone.

And yet, this year, I graduated from Columbia University with my master of social work. I’m not alone anymore, either.”