For most families, back to school season means new backpacks, notebooks, and other supplies. But for young people aging out of foster care, a new school year can mean something far bigger: they have to learn how to build a life without a parent there to show them how.

For Biandie Trente Et Un, a resident at Casa Valentina, that is the chapter he’s writing right now.

“So far, Casa Valentina has been a saving grace,” he told NBC6. “Honestly, it showed me a lot about how to be an adult, how to budget my money, how to explore career options, and how to live on my own, take care of myself, and essentially transition from undergrad into the real world.”

Trente Et Un is a University of Miami graduate and a resident at Casa Valentina, a Miami program built to catch young people at the moment the foster care system lets go. There, the curriculum doesn’t look like a classroom. It looks like life.

Valentina Barrera-Vasco is the lead program coordinator of Casa Valentina.

“It can look like picking classes because they’re all in college or some kind of vocational program, helping them weigh out their schedule with their work schedule, and then from there it can spin a million different ways,” she said of their programming.

For Trente Et Un, right now, it means something bigger.

“For B, it’s like planning law school,” Barrera-Vasco said.

Trente Et Un is studying for the LSAT, with his sights set on a law degree.

“I also want to be able to give back to students and to youth who had my similar experiences,” he said. “For example, a student may be experiencing issues with the foster care system. I can be that lawyer who’s there to help them and get their case settled in a way that’s healthy for a student.”

Last year alone, Casa Valentina reached about 800 young people through its life-skills workshops, covering everything from budgeting and job readiness to renting an apartment and asking for help without shame. But the organization says the work doesn’t scale on its own. It takes a community willing to open doors that many of these young people didn’t know existed.

For Trente Et Un, this back-to-school season isn’t about what goes into a backpack. It’s about what comes after graduation — when the degree is framed, the dorm room is empty, and the real question begins: who shows up next?

Casa Valentina says it is looking for mentors, employers and internship partners willing to show young people like Trente Et Un what’s possible. For more on how you can help, visit their website here.