From Foster Care to Graduation: Student Embraces Education

Alea Dosty, a liberal studies major, was raised by an adoptive family through the foster care system. She graduates with a bachelor’s degree in June. Photo by Nick Wilson.

April 2025 / NEWS STORY
by By Nick Wilson

As a child, growing up in the foster care system, Alea Dosty found inspiration and a sense of belonging in school and teachers from a young age.

And now approaching the completion of her Cal Poly bachelor’s degree in liberal studies, with a minor in child development, she knows she wants to give back to young people in the same way others helped her.

Dosty, who graduates in June, was raised through adoption along with her two older sisters. Her mother suffered from schizophrenia and determined that she couldn’t care for her children when Alea was just a baby. During childhood in Elk Grove in the Sacramento area, school was a place that Dosty always felt comfortable and welcome.

“I had some really inspiring teachers in my elementary through high school experience,” Dosty said. “Because I was in foster care for a large portion of my childhood, my teachers made a really big impact in my life. They really felt like my family, and that really inspired me to want to make change in young people’s lives and drew me to education.”

Alea recalled her first-grade teacher, Mrs. Palmtag, taking her to Six Flags with her kids and coordinating movie nights at the theater.

“She had such a welcoming and encouraging space in the classroom to where I really felt seen and understood by her,” Dosty said. “And I feel like the climate that she cultivated in the classroom has really inspired me for what I want to do as a future educator.”

Looking back, Dosty is grateful for her adoptive family with whom she lived from the age of 8 through most of high school, but being adopted still came with its challenges.

“Most of my upbringing, there were a lot of complications within that family dynamic,” Alea said. “My oldest sister moved out early after we were adopted. I moved out when I was 17 and spent the last year of high school living with another sister.”

Dosty said that she’s glad her biological mother realized she wasn’t able to take care of her children and placed them in the foster care system. But Dosty felt she needed to find a new living arrangement by senior year of high school to gain needed independence and prioritize her mental and emotional well-being.

Dosty was close to her older siblings, especially her sister Aisa who is eight years older and like a parent to her. Aisa Ballard-Dosty encouraged Alea to go to college, helping her to navigate applications and financial aid. Ballard-Dosty, who graduated from UC Riverside, now is a social worker in San Jose.

“I’ve always known that I wanted to pursue higher education, but I didn't know what that would look like not having my adoptive parents’ support,” Alea said. “Aisa paved way for me. She showed me everything. I owe a lot to her, for sure.”

Coming to Cal Poly:

When making her college choice, Alea looked into Cal Poly but was initially hesitant and “never thought I would be going to Cal Poly.”

“I said to myself, ‘Wait, Cal Poly has really cool programs, and it’s really good for educator training too,” Dosty said.

Dosty received a generous financial aid package and greatly has enjoyed her educational experience. She has enjoyed studying under top-notch instructors including Ken Barclay, Briana Ronan, Tina Cheuk and many others.

Dosty also collaborated on research with liberal studies faculty member Amanda Frye through the Frost program, focusing on how to foster development of educators of color.

“It was super relevant to me to do real work on what the experiences are of students of color interested in going into teaching,” Dosty said. “We focused on what the community is like for those students, especially at a predominantly white university like Cal Poly.”

Dosty conducted research through the Frost program in the summers of 2023 and 2024.  

Cheuk, observing her as a student, said that Dosty’s “quiet confidence is palpable and translates into this unwavering belief in the brilliance and joy of every student — qualities that don’t just make a good teacher, but change the trajectory of young people’s lives.”

Liberal studies major Alea Dosty
Photo by Nick Wilson.

Cheuk added: “Alea is thoughtful and empathetic to ways that teachers and school systems can be reimagined to better support the thriving of the most vulnerable students in our classrooms. She recognizes that as a future teacher — she too can meet where her students dream because her own teachers and sister modeled for her the limitless potential, and mentored her in ways that have opened pathways that at one point she thought was not possible.”

Dosty also found connection among friends and a sense of belonging at Cal Poly, where she participates in United Movement dance.

“Culture shock was a huge thing,” Dosty said. “I was kind of scared after researching the demographics and seeing the 2% Black student population. I was taken aback.”

As a freshman, she joined the Educational Opportunity Program (supporting students with historical, economic or educational disadvantages) and Cal Poly Scholars (supporting and retaining high-achieving California students from low-income backgrounds), which helped foster a sense of community and she quickly developed friendships.

“I'm so grateful for that experience and being able to establish my campus community so early on,” Dosty said. “I was feeling like I had a piece of home there when I started. It was super nice.”

Through United Movement, which incorporates hip hop and forms of open dance, she participated in Illuminate Dance Showcase, an annual event which spotlights various dance styles and cultures on campus.

“I danced cheer throughout middle school and high school, and then I joined my dance team towards the end of high school,” Dosty said. “I didn't think I would be doing dance in college at all. In our freshman year, one of my friends just dragged me along to the first workshop, and I was like, ‘Oh, this actually is something I really enjoy,’ and I've stuck with it four years.”

Outside of Cal Poly, Dosty is an assistant teacher with Country Cottage Preschool in San Luis Obispo, where she has taken to working with children and developing her teaching skills.

And she has connected with her biological father.

“When I started my senior year of high school, I reached out to my biological dad, and I do have a relationship with him now, which has been super cool,” Dosty said. “I don’t remember my biological parents at all. But when I reached out, he was super eager to be a part of my life.”

“I'm so excited,” Dosty said of her approaching graduation. “It’s going to be bittersweet as it gets closer to the end of the quarter and really strange not calling San Luis Obispo my home anymore because I’ve loved it here my past four years. I think teachers are needed now more than ever, so I’m super excited to get into the field. I really see myself being able to give back to the communities that I'm involved in.”

Alea Dosty in April on the Cal Poly campus. Photo by Nick Wilson.