Tia

I lived at Bay Area Youth Centers (Calaveras House) for almost three years. I emancipated in 2001 and moved in with a co-worker before moving to Madera with a friend where I worked and went to school for almost two years. After that I decided to join the Navy and came back to Hayward for a few months before shipping off to boot camp. Leaving Calaveras to go be on my own was tougher than I had thought it would be. Even though it was what I wanted to do, leaving everything that was familiar and comfortable to me was very difficult. It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do. When I lived at Calaveras the staff helped me learn to do stuff like budgeting, applying to college (even though that was not what I wanted to do), and save money. When I moved out they were still there for me for support, which was nice because I needed someone to talk to about my problems. The advice I would offer to other people who will emancipate is to save money!!! You will not regret it! Right now I am living in Pennsylvania in the Navy. I finished boot camp and have to finish my training here in the medical clinic. Someday I hope to get a degree in something, but I am not sure what. I just know that I want a job that I enjoy going to everyday.