Shannon Stortz

Throughout my education, I experienced homelessness and nearly complete separation from my parents. From a young age, my father was in prison and my mother, my primary caretaker and family, struggled with substance abuse. Come high school, I was no longer able to live with my mother, and had no other blood relatives to live with. This left me fully independent from a young age, without much familial support either emotionally or tangibly. As I continued through schooling, it became increasingly difficult to ignore that this lack of support left me struggling in ways my peers did not. Though my strengths I’d gained from my independence were undeniable, I found that seeking community and asking for support without shame were crucial for me to finish my college degree. FSP, for example, helped me find community in these experiences; I was not struggling alone! These spaces cultivate an open and understanding culture of often like-minded people, and were what I needed as a student for many years, and was happy to discover at CSU.