"Faith . . . doesn't get you around trouble, it gets you through it," is what I remind myself of every day. Having been in the system for eight years, at times on and off, I've been through tough and difficult times. As a child you see your life before you, and I never thought that I would have been in the system. Unfortunately, things happen. I have endured a lot of chaos. I am, however, thankful for that because I probably would not be where I am today without it. My past is my stepping-stone. Though my past was filled with mental abuse, periods of starvation, days without a bath, weeks without shoes, and years of loneliness and self-pity, I found a reason to live every day. I always knew that I wanted a better life for myself. I knew that I deserved more, and I felt like I had to work hard to have a better life for myself. I always thought that, as a child, I did something wrong. I did not quite understand why I had to be in the system, moving from one relative to another. I discovered that it was not me, but that's what I had to go through to become the young lady that I am today. I'm so appreciative of everything that I have (the good and the bad) because I know that, at a point in my life, I had nothing. I am not what I want to be, but I'm certainly better than what I used to be. Someone once told me "we cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are." I cannot live the life that was set before me; I am determined, at all cost, to be what I want to be in spite of where I came from. I can, and I will. At times, I cry myself to sleep, and sometimes I feel like giving up, but I know that every day can't be a bad one. I always try and keep the "faith" and know that "weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning." I encourage all of you to keep your head up. I know it gets hard sometimes, believe me I know; you just have to believe in yourself in spite of what others say. We all have problems, but there truly cannot be a testimony without a test. Nothing is impossible when you believe in yourself.