By:Nina Peci-

Will Turner-

Junior Will Turner’s typical weekend involves him staying home with his family and playing Wii and board games. So what makes his family stand out from others? Turner was adopted from Seoul, South Korea when he was only three months old. He was too young to even remember it happening. He still keeps up with the culture and sometimes thinks he would like to live there. Turner doesn’t know his exact heritage or the house he first lived in like most kids do, but is happy about the way things turned out.

“This life is a lot better than what it would be in a foster home in Korea, this life turned out really good,” Turner said.

He loves and appreciates how much his parents care, and that they treat him like any other parent would treat their child.

“If you’re being adopted you shouldn’t look at it as a bad thing that happened,” said Turner. “Rather than an opportunity to experience who you really are.”

Hannah Losee-

Freshman Hannah Losee’s adoption started like many kids’: she was adopted when she was two days old, her parents formed a relationship with her birth parents with the intention of adopting her. Instead of separating, she and her birth parents stayed close which rarely happens in the adoption system.

“It’s not like parents, they’re like friends,” said Losee. She understands why her parents made that choice.

“They were really young, so if they tried to raise me they wouldn’t have had a lot of money and they wanted a better situation,” said Losee. “I see that they gave me a better opportunity. I wouldn’t have had a lot of the things I have today.”

She loves her family and all they do for her. Her brother isn’t biological either, but adopted from a different family, making her family very mixed and unique.

“I like how we’re not perfect, everything is a mess. We got one big, giant family in different cities and different blood lines, and that’s kinda cool.”

Adriane Calafiore-

Sophomore Adriane Calafiore had a much more complicated adoption experience, but she still ended up finding her Forever Family. She was 12-years-old when she was adopted on August 7, 2013, which also happens to be National Adoption Day. Before that she was in eight foster homes over about three-and-a-half years, which aren’t as loving as many people think.

“I was classified as a ‘selective mute’,” said Calafiore, “I never really talked to anyone and never got involved because I wasn’t in a good place when I was in foster care. I tried to distance myself from everything.” She had many bad experiences throughout the process. “You can constantly be placed with bad people,” Calafiore said. “I had a roommate who would threaten my life because she just didn’t like me.”

In many situations foster kids are looked over, stereotyped as bad kids, and even considered ‘attention seekers’ when they call out for help because they’re in a dangerous or uncomfortable situation. Calafiore points out that, even in your Forever Family, you can have some problems.

“You’re trying to put yourself into a family that has been connected forever and already have all these ties,” said Calafiore. “You’re coming in and completely new and you’ve already had your own experiences, and thoughts, and beliefs. You’re just trying to find that happy medium.”

Through it all, Calafiore loves her family and has never felt as happy as she does with them.