“I’d like to say I'm a pretty laid-back person,” Miles said. “I like being someone that people can open up to. And for me, I find it a lot easier to open up to people that aren't super serious.”

Miles’ smile lit up our Zoom screen, and he had plans with his friends immediately after our interview. But Miles hadn’t always found it easy to connect. 

When he was young, Miles was very outgoing, but throughout his time in foster care, parts of him shrunk to fit the space that felt safe to occupy. 

“When I was growing up, anyone will tell you [that] I was probably one of the loudest, most obnoxious kids you'll ever interact with,” Miles said. “It wasn't until I was put into foster care that I shut down. I guess it was almost like a coping mechanism with what was going on. I didn't want to express myself just for the world to be like, ‘Well, you know, this is your fault.’ It was around maybe two or three years ago that I got back that childlike energy.”

Miles entered foster care when he was 12.

“I grew up with my mom,” he said, “but [the] TLDR is [that] she had some really bad mental [health] issues that caused her to lose custody of me. That's what originally put me into foster care. I grew up in a foster home that didn't really care for me much at all.”

At one point, Miles’ caseworker gave Miles the choice to stay with his foster family or to live with his aunt and uncle. Miles decided to move out of state to be with his aunt and uncle, and over the years, Miles felt the need to “keep his head down” and to not rock the boat in their house.

When he graduated from high school, Miles wasn’t originally planning to attend college. However, Miles’ caseworker told him that he could attend a four-year university for free using a waiver available to foster care youth. 

“I don't believe my aunt and uncle went to college,” he said, “and my biological parents never did. I was first-generation, completely new to this, and I didn't really have any support systems. So [based on] what my caseworker told me, I simply applied, put on my FAFSA that I was in foster care, and assumed the best.” 

Miles' caseworker told him that he would be eligible for a waiver in Virginia because that was where Miles had entered foster care before moving to Texas to live with his relatives. Miles attended a university in Virginia for three weeks before he learned that wasn’t the case. 

“I flew all the way up there and started college,” he said, “but I did not get any of the financial aid I was told. I ended up having like a $55,000 tuition bill for the semester because I was getting out-of-state tuition [rates] on top of the fact that I didn't have any financial aid. I got in contact with one of the deans, and they helped me.”

The deans got Miles’ tuition backdated, which meant that he wouldn’t need to pay the out-of-state tuition bill, and he was able to register for courses at a Texas university instead. However, Miles is still ineligible for free tuition through the waiver program.

Miles has talked to his caseworker, lawyer, CPS, DFPS, and others to get his tuition waived. 

“I've argued with just about every person that has an ear and has the power to change something,” he said. “I've talked to every name you can think of, and [they have] always come back with, ‘Yeah, I don't really know how to help you.’” 

Miles is graduating with his bachelor’s degree in December, and he hopes he’ll be eligible for a waiver for graduate school.

“Luckily the foster care program team at the [university] has been super kind,” he said. “They've been pushing as hard as they can to get me a tuition waiver, so I can attend and get my master's here.”

Miles learned about the foster care program through an email he received from the university about a part-time job opportunity two years ago. 

“My first two years at college were very isolated,” Miles said. “I had just moved back from Virginia, and when I got here, I didn't interact with anyone. It was, ‘Do your work, keep your head down, get through college. You'll figure it out whenever you graduate.’ It really wasn't until I took this job that I started to put myself out there.” 

Now, Miles plans events for other students to help them connect to campus services and to fellow foster care alumni. The foster care program typically hosts three events per month - a life skills event, an academic event and a social event.

“One of the main things we're trying to do is get students to know that we're here,” he said. “It's so hard, especially for them, to take that extra step and say, ‘I need this or I need that.’ Getting them out of their comfort zone and making them come out to a movie night… it's [about] getting them to access the resources that we want to give them, you know?”

“And my community,” he continued, “is the people [that] I work with every day and especially the people that we help. We're a very tight-knit space. It really does feel like a family. We all came from foster care backgrounds, so we all have that experience. We know what it's like, and it makes it a lot easier to bond. It's a comforting feeling [to know] that other people have felt the same things [that] you have. We empathize with each other.”

During college, Miles has also explored new careers. 

“Going into college, I wanted to work in computers,” he said. “I love building them, I love working with them, and I love all the programming sides. It wasn't until I moved out of my adopted parents' houses when I asked myself, ‘Is this really what's gonna make you happy in life?’”

Miles realized that what made him happiest was helping others. He could see the direct impact that the foster care program had on him and the difference that he was making in the lives of his fellow students. 

“[Helping others] feels wonderful. Seriously, I don't know what other adjective I could use to describe it,” he said. “If I hadn’t gone through what I did, I don't think I could be in the position [that] I am now. Maybe I would've grown up and [been] a computer science major, and I would've been content with sitting, working a nine-to-five desk job, programming all day, and that's all I would've done. I'm very happy that I went through the tough times that I did, [so] that I can help out someone else who's had an even rougher time.”

In his part-time job with the foster care program, Miles has found ways to use his struggles as opportunities to empathize with others. Now Miles wants to pursue a career in social work so that he can help others full-time. 

“I want to get my master's in social work,” he said. “I want the knowledge I need to help others. The master's degree might just be a piece of paper that gets me to the job I need, but it's the skills that you learn along the way that have been super beneficial to me. This program has taught me so much, and I will be forever thankful that hopefully one day I can help people like me.”

But Miles has helped so many people already, simply by tapping back into who he is - that “loud, obnoxious kid” who loves to smile and tell jokes. By being himself, he makes it safe for others to do the same. And he’s just getting started.