TEST YOURSELF:
Do You Have What It Takes
To Be on Your Own?

By Christine McKenna

1. You get your weekly stipend on Friday. You:
a) Put more than half of it in your savings account for when you leave foster care.
b) Spend your stipend paying back everyone you borrowed money from that week.
c) Are broke by midnight because you saw an outfit you just had to have, and a CD you had to get, and, well, you know where I’m going with this.

2. You have one year before you age out of foster care. You need a place to live. You:
a) Start telling everyone you know you’re looking for an apartment, apply for public housing, begin searching the paper to get an idea of what apartments cost, and start thinking about responsible people you might get as roommates.
b) Leave it to fate. You think, “God will find me a home if it’s meant to be.”
c) Decide you’ll move back in with your mom even though every other time you’ve tried that she’s thrown you out in less than a month.

3. When it comes to cooking you:
a) Might as well have your own cooking show. You’re so gourmet, people call you Martha Stewart.
b) Try to whip something up every now and then, but end up with visits from the local fire department.
c) Who needs to cook? There’s always McDonald’s.

4. When you feel lonely you:
a) Call the people you trust and talk to them about how you’re feeling.
b) Carry on long and involved debates with Oprah, on TV, whom you consider your close friend.
c) Jump into the first relationship that comes along, fall in love (lust), AWOL to live with your boo, then get kicked out of your sweetie’s apartment when his or her “soul mate” returns.

5. Your boss makes a snippy remark to you about your work habits. Your blood boils. You:
a) Calm down, then go to your boss and try to discuss it maturely.
b) Suck it up, then go to a party and drink your weight in vodka.
c) Let your boss have it. Get fired. (Yeah, maybe you should have taken those anger management classes your group home kept giving.)

6. You’ve been feeling feverish and lightheaded for over a month. You:
a) Head to your doctor. A flu shouldn’t last this long!
b) Don’t know who your doctor is, so you try every over-the-counter medication there is first.
c) Smoke some pot and forget about it. (If something’s wrong with you, you don’t want to know.)

7. You finally found an apartment and have left the system. It’s time to pay the rent. You:
a) Pay with great joy. It feels so good to be independent!!
b) Ask everyone you know if you can borrow money, even though you probably won’t be able to pay them back.
c) Refuse to pay. Your apartment is too small, anyway, and what can they do, throw you out!?

* * SCORING * *

Add up the number of A’s, B’s and C’s you picked. Then read below:

If you answered mostly A’s: You are well organized and realistic. Living on your own for the first time isn’t easy for anyone, but you will be able to give it your best shot. But make sure to take time out to have fun, too, or you might end up with an ulcer before you can celebrate your first million!

If you answered mostly B’s: You take a pretty laid-back approach to life, and tend to put more stock in the zodiac than in your ability to take charge of your destiny. While it’s good not to let the world stress you out, keep in mind that becoming independent is no easy feat. The more you plan for your future, the easier it will be. Independent living class is definitely for you.

If you answered mostly C’s: You have a devil-maycare attitude toward life and all its responsibilities, and, boy, do you need a wake up call! If you don’t get a plan of action for life after foster care soon, you’ll spend all your time responding to emergency situations. Trust me, I’ve been there! I’ve been planless, jobless and homeless! Don’t do things the hard way. Go to independent living class. Make a plan.

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