PP 4 - Wild Card

My Career Then & Now

    My name is Lacy Kay Clarissa Olivarez, but it used to be Lacy Kay Trammell. I was born to two drug addicts on September 20, 2003, in Jasper, Texas. My life was very different from that of other children when I was growing up. I used to be homeless for long periods, and I have lived in seven different states as well as the numerous cities in between. I had two older brothers, and I took care of my middle brother for most of my life because he had a complicated birth and was like a baby. The eldest brother is named John, and the middle brother is named Shawn. My mom and dad didn't do what they should have been doing as parents. My dad, though, was okay sometimes, and he showed me every once in a while what a father figure should be like. My mother was always angry, but I knew somehow she loved us. 

    When I was twelve, my whole life had changed. On July 6, 2016, my father and Shawn passed away in a house fire in the trailer we were living in Hemphill, Texas. My mom, John, and I were getting our car fixed in Lufkin, Texas. When we arrived at the scene, I asked one of the police officers if Dad and Shawn were at a hospital, and he didn't say anything; he just looked at me... No one told me they died, I just knew.

My Dad (Pic is Link)

My Brother (Pic is Link)

    Not long after, my mom started dating a lot of men and got a boyfriend. John had to leave home at seventeen because Mom's boyfriend was going to hurt him. I watched him walk down the road we used to come home from school on. I was alone and homeless again. I lived in a camper with no hot water and no food.

    I woke up every morning at four to get to school on the bus because it came so early. I was the smelly kid in class with ill-fitting clothes. I didn't have friends or a family. One day at school, a girl was complaining about her family to a teacher who didn't like me, and I had enough. I said everything that I was going through and struggling with because I had enough of rich kids with normal lives complaining about not having the latest iPhone. The teacher called Child Protective Services, though, and my mom took me out of school. In Texas, if you have a roof over your head, they do not care if you are being abused and neglected or have absolutely nothing.

Pic is Link to Article of My Book

    I was away from people my age for a long time, and I was now allowed to go outside. My mom and her boyfriend took me to Arkansas for some reason; I had never been here before. I kept contacting my omg G.T. (Gifted and Talented) teacher in Texas, and she called the police every time something happened. Eventually in February 2019 at six in the morning, my mom and her boyfriend kicked me out. They called the police to take me because they did not want to have me anymore. 

    They got arrested, and I was immediately put into foster care in Camden, Arkansas. My mom gave up her rights to me not long after the trial where the judge found my story credible. I was able to tell about my life. I was finally free. When I was put back into school, I had to attend summer school. In two weeks, I completed seven classes with A's and B's. I was able to graduate on time.

    I got in contact with my brother again; I hadn't spoken to him in three years. I was fifteen when I was put into foster care. I tried to live with his new girlfriend's family that he was living with, but they just wanted me to clean the house and work for the family business. They told me that I had to earn to eat. I was the only kid cleaning the whole house while being a part of the business and going to school. I knew I deserved better, so I left. I got in contact with my attorney in Camden, Arkansas, and she told me they weren't doing the paperwork anyway to adopt me. They said a bunch of things to my brother and biological relatives, and my brother has not talked to me since.

Pic is Link to My Merit Page

    I was alone again and back in foster care in Arkansas. Then COVID 19 happened. My mental health was declining, and I had no reason to be alive anymore. My foster mom was amazing and did her best to help me, but she did not know what to do anymore. My best friend and her mother came to the rescue, and I built my life back up again.

    My best friend's family wanted to adopt me, but I declined at first. I finally said yes after spending more time with them and was adopted at seventeen on December 2, 2020. I have a family now and a new life and name. My journalism teacher had asked me one day if I wanted to write for the Camden Newspaper, and I joyfully accepted. I became a published author in eleventh grade, and I continued to write until I graduated. I graduated top 15% of my class with honors in the front row. I had the most chords because I was a part of every club I qualified for; I even created a book club that helped me be there for people who felt like how I used to feel. I had started to speak to places about my life, and I still do so. Now, I am the first person in my biological family to go to college, and I am a motivational speaker and published author. I am in the Honors College, Choir, and I will participate for the second time in Miss SAU. 

Pic is Link to My Book

    The first time ever did a pageant-like competition was when I participated in Miss SAU the first time. I had won Miss Congeniality and Overall Talent for my spoken word poetry. In this next competition, I will be the first published author to have competed as well as the first participant to have done fundraisers specifically for the competition beforehand. I have always wanted to feel beautiful and strong, and the competition has helped so much for me to spread awareness of my life and the importance of the adoption of older foster children. I already have my paperwork done and will be the last one to perform at the competition! (UPDATE: I won Miss Congeniality and made so many new friends!) I finally published my memoir of poems that I wrote and collected throughout my life. I have sold over 200 copies and counting of my book. I am also in the process of writing another one. I am also now engaged to the love of my life, and have never been happier! My life has been so complicated and messy, but I am making the most of it!