The Office of Student Life hosted the “One Book Kick Off Event” in partner with Kern County Library’s ‘The One Book Project’, which is an annual event that was founded in 2002.
This event hosted on Oct. 1, at the Levan Center here on campus, brought many people together to have these open and meaningful conversations, and to bring awareness of cultural differences many face with adoption/fostering.
The One Book Project is a countywide reading and discussion project that fosters empathy, promotes awareness, and strengthens the fabric of our community by exploring the themes in the chosen text.
The One Book Project chooses a different book every year and this year’s choice for 2024 is a memoir titled “All You Can Ever Know” by Nicole Chung.
This memoir tells a young girl’s story of interracial adoption and the struggle of growing up with that in a predominately white town in Oregon.
Kicking off this event at Bakersfield College, The Office of Student Life wanted BC to have a “presentation and discussion on cross-cultural fostering and adoption”.
Lin Kemper, Kern County Librarian started off this conversation by introducing the panelists and then following, an introduction to the book and what it discusses.
With an array of panelists, aspects such as cultural identity, adoption, fostering, heritage, and a variety of resources were discussed.
A former foster youth, Jason Mckinley, also a BC NextUp Student, shared his story of being a foster child and also his experiences in foster and group homes.
He shared his own cultural differences he experienced in some foster homes, and the identity shifts that also come along.
Another family present who has fostered and adopted children stated the difficulties presented with it as well but also the beautiful aspects of it.
The parents described the amount of love they pour into these children and the enjoyment they have for nurturing these children as well.
Melissa Soin, a Resource Family Specialist, stated she advocates for these families and is there for these families and provides extra support during the process of fostering/adoption.
Currently, there are about 2,000 children in the foster care system in Kern County and these panels of discussion are essential to bring awareness to cross-cultural fostering and adoption.