Fall 2025 Winner of the Hope and Opportunity Scholarship

Thalya Cruz

Born into the foster care system, Thalya has transformed her hardships into a foundation of resilience and hope. Her experiences have fueled an unwavering commitment to family law. Congratulations, Thalya — we look forward to the meaningful change your work will bring!

Read her essay here:

I am writing to express my desire to be considered for the Whitlock Hope and Opportunity Scholarship. Visiting my biological mother in prison was one of the most challenging experiences I navigated while in foster care. She was someone I was supposed to find comfort in, yet who felt like a stranger. I was born in the Women’s Maximum-Security Prison in Idaho where I was immediately placed into the states care with my brother. We spent seven years in Idaho’s Foster Care System where we faced the challenges of uncertainty and impermanence. And, although my brother and I were removed from our mother’s care, the system required us to maintain contact.

Those visits stayed with me. Every Tuesday, my brother and I were picked up by a social worker to visit our mother. We walked through the heavy gates and sat in an empty room across a woman we barely knew, trying to make sense of why we were there. For seven years, these court-ordered visits were a constant reminder of what we’d lost and what we never really had to begin with. My brother and I were expected to forge a bond with someone who hadn’t raised or cared for us. We were kids who were forced to grow up quickly.

While navigating these feelings of discomfort, anger, and guilt, we were also surviving a system of uncertainty and impermanence as we shuffled from house to house. With each house came a new set of rules, people, and trust—things that I quickly learned were temporary. My brother became my anchor in the chaos for years until we were eventually temporarily separated. It was my resilience and hope that got me through our period of separation.

The legal system has molded me into who I am;born into it and shaped by its complexities, it has been a constant influence in my life and is my reason for pursuing family law. It was through my lived experience that I truly understood the precarious circumstances many children face;I know firsthand what it is like to navigate life where my voice does not matter. The love that I found through our eventual adoption has instilled in me the desire to advocate for others and has amplified my passion for keeping families together.

My lived experiences have instilled in me a deep sense of empathy and determination and I feel that the Whitlock Hope and Opportunity Scholarship would allow me to continue bridging gaps to foster spaces where everyone can feel heard and represented. Thank you for your consideration.

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