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

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – On a pleasant December afternoon, the sun shined brightly outside the Hilliard Center while friends and family smiled, hugged, and even shed a few tears as they greeted graduates from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s fall 2025 graduating class. Among those not only soaking in the sun, but the adulation of her friends and family, was Kaselyn Counterman ’25. At one point in her life, this moment felt impossibly far away.

“This has been the biggest accomplishment of my life so far,” Counterman said. “I am so proud of myself for creating this path to a better future for myself.”

That path was anything but easy. Counterman and her sister, Jalen Counterman ’26, faced more obstacles than most on their road to academic success. At times, they stumbled. 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. Their childhood became a cycle of foster families, brief reunions with their parents, and eventually time with their grandparents — who at that point were taking care of a total of six grandchildren.

As teenagers, instability followed them. Substance use became a part of their environment, and during their later high school years, 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 here. She’s my best friend. We’ve had a lot of inconsistencies in our lives, but we are each other’s one constant.”

With the help of nonprofit organizations like Foster Angels of South Texas, the sisters learned about educational benefits available to former foster children, including free tuition and student housing. In the state of Texas, students who enroll in extended foster care are entitled to a free tuition waiver.

Once on campus, they 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. “They’re writing their story now — 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 Program in partnership with the Department of Family and Protective Services. The program 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 was critical for me,” Kaselyn said. “My time at TAMU-CC was the most stabilizing time in my life. Knowing I had a roof over my head was such a relief. It 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, which has received generous grant support from the Coastal Bend Community Foundation over the last three years totaling $40,500, also offers workshops and social events to teach life skills while cultivating a sense of belonging. The program also connects students with community partners who provide resources — everything from school supplies funded by Foster Angels to groceries provided by Catholic Charities, to career-building opportunities through local organizations like the Rotary Club.

“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.”

Jalen, a computer science major, hopes to one day launch her own cybersecurity business, while Kaselyn dreams of creating the next great car in the automotive industry.

“The journey is really just beginning, and it’s exciting,” Kaselyn said. “Someone once told me setbacks are not failures — they are setups for success.”

As the final notes of “Pomp and Circumstance” echoed through the Hilliard Center, and Kaselyn embraced Jalen for the first time as a college graduate, they both couldn’t help but reflect on just how far they’ve come.

“I have never been prouder in my life than seeing Kaselyn walk the stage after all her hard work and dedication,” Jalen said. “When I first got to TAMU-CC, I remember thinking to myself ‘I’ll try this out for a semester and see how it goes.’”

Today, Kaselyn is a manufacturing engineer for a company in Wisconsin. And while the Counterman sisters are now living apart, somehow, they have never been closer.

“We don’t have to be in the same place to be sisters,” Kaselyn said. “We’re always on the phone, and we’ll always be there for each other — no matter where we are.”