Finding Home at TAMU-CC: Sisters Find Support and Success at Island University after Foster Care

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Obstacles come in many forms for college students striving to make it to graduation. Financial burdens, academic challenges, and the pressures of everyday life can weigh heavily on young adults finding their way into the world.

For Kaselyn Counterman ’25 and Jalen Counterman ’26, sisters who attend Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, that path was filled with enough hurdles to make anyone stumble — and at times, they did. But they always got back up.   

“We grew up mostly in foster care in and around Central Texas,” Kaselyn said. “Our father was in prison, and our mother has multiple personality disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression.”

Born less than a year apart, the Counterman sisters entered foster care before their first birthdays. From there, their childhood became a cycle of foster families, brief reunions with their parents, and eventually time with their grandparents — who at one point were taking care of a total of six grandchildren.

As they navigated the complexities of their teenage years, substance use became a part of their environment. During the later years of high school, they found themselves living in an emergency placement shelter for teenage girls.

“We both started behaving poorly because we didn’t have anybody looking out for us,” Kaselyn said. “When we ended up at that shelter in Waco, it was there that I decided I needed to turn my life around. I wanted a better life than I grew up in.”

The sisters would eventually graduate from high school. From there, Kaselyn decided to enroll at TAMU-CC because it was far away from the places and problems that had surrounded her youth. Jalen took time off to work and regroup before following her sister to the Island University.

“It was a pretty easy choice,” Jalen said. “It was by the beach, and Kaselyn was there. She’s my best friend. We’ve had a lot of inconsistencies in our lives, but we are each other’s one constant.”

In the state of Texas, students who sign on for extended foster care are entitled to a free tuition waiver. Once on campus, the sisters connected with Island Harbor, a university program designed to help foster youth transition into college life.

“A lot of times in foster care, decisions are made for these students, and they come out not used to being on their own,” said Martha Valladolid, Island Harbor Program Specialist. “Now, they’re writing their own story — I just help guide them. I show them what’s available, give advice, and help where I can. I’m kind of a jack-of-all-trades.”

Island Harbor also offers a Supervised Independent Living (SIL) Program, in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services, which gives former foster care students access to fully furnished campus living, a meal plan, and a monthly stipend to put toward a cell phone bill and incidentals.

“The free housing has been critical for me,” Kaselyn said. “My time here at TAMU-CC has been the most stabilizing time in my life. Knowing I have a roof over my head is such a relief. It has helped me mature and helped me become comfortable with being alone. I don’t always need the loud noises I grew up with.”

Island Harbor also offers workshops and social events to teach life skills while fostering a sense of belonging. The program also connects students with community partners and nonprofits that provide resources and career building opportunities — everything from school supplies funded by Foster Angels of South Texas to groceries provided by Catholic Charities.

“We also have a partnership with the Rotary Club in which they host a monthly home cooked meal for our students,” Valladolid said. “It’s through those dinners that our students have made connections with mentors who have a lot of connections with various local businesses.”

For Jalen, a computer science major focusing on cybersecurity, the community dinners have helped her learn more about her future career.

“One of the Rotary Club members works at Amazon doing cybersecurity,” Jalen said. “It’s great to talk with him and learn about his career path. He has also given me tips on career building tools that I can access.”

Meanwhile, Kaselyn, a mechanical engineering major, secured a paid internship through Island Harbor’s partnership with Foster Angels.

“I’m a mechanical maintenance intern with Steel Dynamics in Sinton,” Kaselyn said. “I was full-time on-site during the summer, but since classes have started back up, I’ve moved to remote part-time. I’m also an assistant in the campus machine shop — another connection I made through Island Harbor.”

The sisters have also embraced leadership roles on campus. Kaselyn is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Automotive Engineers, while Jalen is active in the Islander Cyber Society and TAMU-CC chapter of Women in Cyber Security. Jalen hopes to one day launch her own cybersecurity business, while Kaselyn dreams of creating the next great car in the automotive industry.

As they prepare for the next chapter in their lives — Kaselyn graduating this December and Jalen next May — they can’t help but reflect on how far they’ve come, from a youth filled with uncertainty to a future filled with promise.

“There’s a real chance we’ll be living apart soon, building our own lives,” Kaselyn said. “But we don’t have to be in the same place to be sisters. We’re always on the phone, and we’ll always be there for each other — no matter where we are.”

Both sisters said they feel prepared to take on the challenges of adulthood, grounded in the foundation they built at TAMU-CC.

“Island Harbor and TAMU-CC have done so much for us,” Jalen said. “We’ve made friends, our professors have been amazing, and we’ve built our own little support system that will always be with us.”