One Word Essay On Three Little Words

Arianna Luna

Gould 2B

CP Nonfiction Analysis & Comp

7 February 2023

One Word Essay “The best way out is always through”, a quote by American poet, Robert Frost. In this quote, Frost hints at the idea that persevering through hard times is the only solution to escaping them. Many people, even today, believe in the message of this quote. In the memoir, Three Little Words by Ashley Rhodes-Courter, she explains the hardships of her childhood and how she persevered through them. Ashley was a foster child who had lived in 14 foster homes by age 12. At 2 years old, she was taken from her biological mother because she got arrested for writing a bad check. Despite being released within 6 days of being arrested, Ashley and her brother were unable to

First, I read the article titled Child Welfare and Foster Care Statistics by The Annie E. Casey Foundation. The article educated me about the foster care system through the use of statistics. I learned from the article that 615,000 kids faced maltreatment and 3 out of 4 of them would face neglect, which is the most common type of maltreatment. 1 out of every 5 of these kids was abused. I also learned that kids ages 1-5 make up the largest percentage of foster kids. Similar to Ashley Rhodes-Courter, she was a foster child who experienced what it was like to live in an abusive foster home. This was a major hardship in her life, however, as always she persevered through the tough, dark times of her life and strived to find a fitting home. Eventually, she did find one and all of the years of perseverance finally paid off for her. Along with the article, I also watched a video titled “Ashley Rhodes-Courter on Three Little Words” that came from FOX13 News. The clip was an interview that the news station had held with Ashley Rhodes-Courter herself. After viewing the clip, I learned more about why Ashley wrote the book and how she has impacted society. I learned that she has inspired many people to consider adoption or foster parenting. She also mentioned how she wanted to advocate for change in the foster system to make the world a better place for not only children but everyone. Not only did I learn this, but I also learned that even after persevering to find a safe and loving home, Ashley continued to persevere to reach yet another goal. This time, her goal was to advocate and spread awareness about foster care. She faced critiques and had to find a way to be heard, despite these challenges, she persevered through and ended up reaching her goal of spreading awareness. One last source I viewed was the infographic seen on the right. The infographic is related to