A homeless high school dropout blossoms with help from people who care

Three years ago, when I was 17, my mother kicked me out of our house. I had nowhere to go — no other family, friends or neighbors who would give me a place to stay.

I wound up at a local shelter for homeless young women. I lived among down-and-out women, ages 18 to 25, for almost two years. A high school dropout now, I was clearly going nowhere.

But eventually, I earned my high school equivalency diploma and graduated from college. I applied my new occupational training toward a solid full-time job as a medical assistant in a local health care facility.

How, within only three years, did I pull myself together?

My struggles started at home. I had no parental guidance. My mother and I never really got along.

I was also a crazy kid. I played hooky and hung out with other troubled teenagers, and worst of all, my boyfriend routinely beat me up.

In my senior year of high school, I struggled academically and socially. I doubted I would ever get into any college.

So, evicted from my own home, out the door I went, and a local shelter took me in.

Living in a shelter was scary. I came to understand nothing is more important in the face of adversity than perseverance. I also discovered that acts of kindness made a profound impact on me.

I still had no idea what I wanted to do for a living, but I was determined to create a better life for myself.

While at the shelter, I realized I should further my education to help me grow as a person and lead to a brighter future. So I enrolled at Rockford Career College, a two-year institution, to pursue a medical career.

At first, I had difficulty participating in class with other students and completing my assignments satisfactorily or on time. I doubted I would make it to graduation.

Luckily, an instructor named Ebony Woods took me under her wing. After I confided to Ebony about my negligent mother, violent boyfriend and homelessness, she cheered me on even harder.

"You can do this," she insisted. "You’ve already gone through worse."

Ebony also revealed that she, too, had known homelessness, and like me, had attended Rockford as a student.

Our shared backgrounds bred a sense of kinship.

Soon, I felt more comfortable on a college campus. I started to make friends. School officials ensured that I stayed safe from my former boyfriend. The administration deployed security guards to escort me on campus.

I leased an apartment — a home to call my own — where I could sleep at night without worrying about my mother, my ex-boyfriend or other potentially harmful sheltermates.

I recently graduated with an associate degree, complete with a cap and gown commencement ceremony. I immediately landed a job as a registered medical assistant at a Rockford clinic run by OrthoIllinois.

I love coming into work every day. I help take care of patients, who range from ages 15 to 100. Suffering from various conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and polymyalgia rheumatica, they look to me for guidance.

I ask our patients questions to prep them for appointments with our physicians, administer intramuscular injections as needed and provide prevention education.

But why stop there? Next, I plan to pursue a bachelor's degree in health science and health care administration, so I can be more of a patient advocate.

None of my educational and professional successes, this triumph over trauma, would have taken place without the network of people who lent me a hand — social workers, educators and career counselors.

To this day, Ebony Woods, my biggest, champion, is a close friend.

What I’ve accomplished, in spite of the challenges, anyone can do. But you have to start somewhere. For me, it meant getting back into the classroom and connecting with mentors and peers who could steer me straight.

None of it was easy — that I can tell you. But I managed to get an education, first in the shelter, then at college and now at my job.

If I’ve learned anything at all, it’s that I still have so much more to learn and if I’m lucky enough to know the right people, I just might get where I need to go.

Shaylee Forester is a registered medical assistant at OrthoIllinois in Rockford.