Tampa Bay Times (December 14, 2023)
By junior year of high school, Qwynn Foster had fled or been kicked out of three homes.
Foster, who uses they/them pronouns, recalls getting in trouble as a child for dancing like a girl or wearing “gay clothes.” When Foster came out as gay in seventh grade, arguments with family members gave way to fights, they said. One after another, their mother, grandmother and aunt slammed the door.
Foster wound up at a youth shelter.
Gibbs High School in St. Petersburg became a safe haven, somewhere they “couldn’t get kicked out,” Foster said. But as graduation and their 18th birthday approached in 2020, they faced two choices: find a full ride to a university or spend another year in transitional housing.
College would be an escape but Foster had no idea where to start.
With nothing to lose, they asked for help and found it at — among other places — the college and career center at Gibbs High. The then-new program was dedicated to helping students prepare for life after graduation, and Gibbs at the time was one of just five Pinellas County public schools to pilot the centers.
College would be an escape but Foster had no idea where to start.
With nothing to lose, they asked for help and found it at — among other places — the college and career center at Gibbs High. The then-new program was dedicated to helping students prepare for life after graduation, and Gibbs at the time was one of just five Pinellas County public schools to pilot the centers.
At Gibbs, Foster started visiting almost every day, said Sarah Alvarez, then the school’s counselor in the college and career center. Some days, they would come in buzzing over an application essay. On others, Foster’s confidence would fade and they’d arrive at Alvarez’s door in tears.
“You’ve got this, Qwynn,” she’d say. “You can do it.”