Beyond Survival
This reflection is shared with permission and represents one youth’s lived experience. Virtue Visionary exists to protect spaces where youth can speak honestly, be seen fully, and engage in advocacy without fear of being minimized or tokenized.
“Coming back to the Prevent Child Abuse Arizona CAP Conference this year honestly hit me in away I wasn’t expecting.
Last year, I walked into that space carrying a lot of uncertainty about myself, my voice, and where I fit into this work. I knew my lived experience mattered, but part of me still felt like I had to prove why I deserved to be in those rooms. I think growing up in foster care can do that to you sometimes. You get so used to feeling temporary or overlooked that even when opportunities come, it can still feel hard to fully believe you belong there.
I was just a baby advocate a year ago where I didn’t have the strength or support like I do now. From being a part of the Annie E Casey’s Jim Casey Fellowship program and even colleagues that helped build me up in a year, it is just so crazy to look back and see my growth.
This year feels different though.
I realized somewhere along the way, I stopped trying so hard to justify my presence and started allowing myself to just exist as who I am. Not as a perfect advocate or polished speaker, but as someone who survived a lot, learned from it, and found purpose through connection and community.
Honestly, one of the most emotional parts for me was seeing familiar faces and realizing the relationships didn’t disappear after the conference/workshop last year. Growing up, consistency wasn’t something I had a lot of. People came in and out of my life constantly, so having genuine connections that lasted beyond a single moment means more to me than I can really explain.
This past year has stretched me a lot personally. I’ve met other people with lived experience who reminded me I’m not alone in how I see the world. I’ve had conversations that challenged me, healed me, and helped me grow into myself more. I’ve also learned that advocacy doesn’t always have to look big or loud. Sometimes it’s just being honest. Sometimes it’s creating spaces where people feel safe enough to tell the truth.
There were moments this year where I caught myself thinking about the younger version of me—the kid who felt invisible most of the time—and I honestly wish he could see where we are now. Not because everything is magically healed or figured out, but because we found people. We found our community. We found purpose in places that once felt painful.
I think for a long time I viewed survival as the finish line. But now I’m realizing there’s something beyond survival too. There's a connection. There’s growth. “There’s the moment where you realize you’re no longer just surviving for that younger version of you. You’re actually showing up for them in the way you always needed.” There’s learning how to let people see the real versionof you without feeling like you have to shrink yourself first.
And maybe that’s what this year really reminded me of more than anything else: healing can happen slowly, through people, through community, and through the moments where you finally realize you don’t have to carry everything alone anymore. With the most important lesson of:
You Are Enough”.
