Ko spent most of his childhood in the foster care system, but it wasn’t a traditional path. When he was 10 years old, Ko was placed in state custody. Ko didn’t end up with a foster family; instead, he went to Bill’s Place, a residential campus of Youth Villages.

“I know I wasn’t the easiest kid,” Ko said. “I made some mistakes, and my mom had to make the choice to place me in state custody.”

Ko spent six months at Bill’s Place and worked hard to improve his behavior. From there, he moved to a Youth Villages foster home with Mrs. Dillard.

Ko thrived with Mrs. Dillard and felt he was in an environment where he could succeed.

Ko spent most of his childhood in the foster care system, but it wasn’t a traditional path. When he was 10 years old, Ko was placed in state custody. Ko didn’t end up with a foster family; instead, he went to Bill’s Place, a residential campus of Youth Villages.

“I know I wasn’t the easiest kid,” Ko said. “I made some mistakes, and my mom had to make the choice to place me in state custody.”

Ko spent six months at Bill’s Place and worked hard to improve his behavior. From there, he moved to a Youth Villages foster home with Mrs. Dillard.

Ko thrived with Mrs. Dillard and felt he was in an environment where he could succeed.

“My foster brother was talking about Scholars, and how I could do it. At first, I didn’t know if I wanted to do it, but my specialist really pushed me to at least apply,” Ko said.

The Youth Villages Scholar initiative supports young adults as they complete college or vocational training. Each young adult receives a mentor and a monthly stipend to help them through their academic journey.

This summer, Ko attended Scholars orientation and met other young adults from across the country who had experienced foster care.

“Even though we just met, it feels like we’ve known each other forever. I have made friends that I will have for the rest of my life,” Ko said.

Ko is majoring in social work and hopes to support youth because, even though Ko had support throughout his life, he knows firsthand that some don’t have the same experience.

“I knew I wanted to work in social work because last summer my best friend lost his battle with mental health,” Ko said. “That really pushed me to go in this direction and work in this field.”

In addition to attending Scholars orientation, Ko completed two internships this summer, one as a group therapy intern at West Haven Village, a behavioral health community service support provider. The internships reaffirmed Ko’s commitment to a career in social work.

Ko is thriving at school and plans to graduate early. His next step? Get a master’s degree in social work and try to make the world a little brighter.

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