Share the Dream: My Life, My Focus, My Goal Share the Dream: My Life, My Focus, My Goal: Jolibois, Destiny

Share the Dream essay by Destiny Jolibois

I am Destiny Jolibois, and I’d like to say that I am from everywhere and nowhere. I lived with my mom until I was 15, but we moved around a lot before then. Roslindale, Medford, Randolph, Boston, Avon (which ended up our last and permanent home). You name it I’ve been there. When I was put into the foster care system, I traveled even more. Brockton, Bridgewater, Springfield. It feels like I’ve been everywhere, but Massachusetts isn't anything special at all. My family is mostly Haitian. My father is the only exception, since he was mixed with dominican. Although I am a mix of Haitian and Dominican, I feel like I picked up a lot culturally from the people I’ve been around, so I claim to be American. I carry a piece of everyone's history in my heart.

I chose UMass Dartmouth for a few different reasons. I’d never been in this area before, and exploring mass feels like a part of me now I don’t like to be in the same place for too long. The programs here seem fantastic and UMass Dartmouth owns the only public law school in mass. It felt like a huge opportunity for me, especially in law. Tuition is covered for me on a state school level, which means I could probably spare myself a bit of debt if I go into law school here. I want to major in law. While here, I want to focus on building myself up socially. Since I’ve moved around a lot it made me a bit of a recluse since I’m used to new people but I never end up talking to them. It felt stupid to do since I was just going to move again, but I plan to be here for a while so hopefully that helps.

I want to be a lawyer for foster kids. DCF is one of those systems that many consider a necessary evil. Children as little as 6 are expected to go into court with the family they were removed from. This is incredibly traumatizing and leads kids back into harmful homes. I want to fight for the kids and give them a better chance of a happy home. As a lawyer I can speak for them in a way they haven’t developed yet, and save them from being forced into court. I would make sure their opinion is the one that matters the most. I know this doesn’t help globally, but I think it would help kids feel better locally.