{"id":3367,"date":"2019-10-23T15:24:47","date_gmt":"2019-10-23T14:24:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/?p=3367"},"modified":"2023-02-14T12:46:59","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T12:46:59","slug":"finding-my-voice-and-owning-my-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/finding-my-voice-and-owning-my-reality\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding my voice and owning my reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<p>Some may argue that my greatest achievements include graduating from university, or even getting to university in the first place. Additionally, suggestions include getting my first flat or my job or my constant mental health battles. Professionals in the looked after system may try and convince you that my greatest achievement is being a positive statistic for their local authority, for the government. For me, seeing as I am the only one who could possibly know and I\u2019m the one living my life, my greatest achievement is this. What I\u2019m doing now. Writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing has given me the opportunity to find my voice. To tell my story how I want to tell it. Poetry, letters, plays, blogs\u2026 any writing opportunity, I\u2019ve tried to take advantage of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve run a blog since my first year of university; a place to spill my thoughts and feelings, with the ambitious idea that if I helped just one person\u2026 my job was done. I\u2019ve never had a continuous theme about what to write about. More often than not, I\u2019ll get inspired and my fast typing fingers will dance across the computer keyboard \u2013 sometimes even my phone screen. Recently, I\u2019ve found myself making myself completely vulnerable and writing about my experiences as a looked after child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, writing about these experiences could, and has, opened up the public\u2019s eye to life inside the system compared to what the system wants to tell them. I hold up my hands and say that I do not fit the stereotype of what a care kid is supposed to look like but that is simply because I have clawed and fought my way to appear, and to be, a young person. A human. We\u2019re all human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>Doing this, writing, has helped me challenge the growing stigma against looked after children. I\u2019m not afraid of the label \u201ccare leaver\u201d. It is mine to own and that in itself is an achievement. Writing has given me a voice to speak openly about my mental health, being in care and many other things that without a screen in front of me \u2013 I would simply be too scared to have a conversation about.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Writing, in my eyes, is by far my greatest achievement. It\u2019s given me the confidence and the platform to put these dancing fingertips to good use. To speak my truth, to spread the word about successful looked after children and to change that horrible, horrible stereotype.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>This blog was an entry in our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/write-speak-share-writing-competition-winners-announced\/\">\u2018Write Speak Share\u2019 writing competition<\/a>. The theme for the competition was \u2018Your Biggest Achievement\u2019.&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some may argue that my greatest achievements include graduating from university, or even getting to university in the first place. Additionally, suggestions include getting my first flat or my job or my constant mental health battles. Professionals in the looked after system may try and convince you that my greatest achievement is being a positive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":3369,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[38,22,23],"class_list":["post-3367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-your-stories","tag-care-leaver","tag-leaving-care","tag-real-life-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<title>Finding my voice and owning my reality - IMO<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.childrenscommissioner.gov.uk\/imo\/your-stories\/finding-my-voice-and-owning-my-reality\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Finding my voice and owning my reality - IMO\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some may argue that my greatest achievements include graduating from university, or even getting to university in the first place. 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