A Journey From Hardship to Hope: AlanaBlu's Story 

At just 20 years old, AlanaBlu Cooley has weathered more storms than many face in a lifetime. Now a mentor and aspiring teacher, she’s transforming a difficult upbringing into a journey marked by resilience, self-discovery and passion for helping others. 

AlanaBlu’s story begins in Greeley, where her mother, who had her at 18, struggled with stability. She recalls her childhood as “normal, but not normal”, marked by an abusive relationship with her mother and the challenge of growing up without stability. 

“Living with my mom was chaotic,” she said. “There was a lot of challenges that were out of my control that constantly popped up. Growing up, I always felt like I had setbacks that I couldn’t control.” 

At home, she lived in an environment where her mother engaged in illegal activities, including drug use and theft, with AlanaBlu often being exposed to these behaviors. She frequently found herself in the company of her mother’s friends, who were involved in drugs. 

Her father, however, was never in the picture. AlanaBlu has no idea who he is, but never let that stop her from living her life. 

“I feel okay with who I am and with who my family is,” she said. “Not having my own dad, I don’t think it has impacted me too much.” 

In addition to at-home turmoil, AlanaBlu struggled with school, often missing days at a time, as her living situation created obstacles that prevented her from attending and reaching her potential. 

“Until I was in fifth grade, I wasn’t able to read,” she said. “I felt really different than everyone else. No one really understood what was going on with me.” 

AlanaBlu recalled how a classmate confronted her in math class, asking about seeing her crying in a store, with her mother screaming at her. 

“I was like ‘oh man’”, she said, “Like my mom had literally beat me up in the parking lot and I was like, ‘did they see that?’. That was my experience going to school.” 

She considered herself “weird”, as she always felt uncomfortable and awkward at school as everyone had a very different life than her. 

“I was pulled out of school a lot and that was really hard,” she said. “I feel like a lot of kids, they kind of knew stuff was happening with me. But it was always just weird.” 

Her mother soon became pregnant with AlanaBlu’s brother and sister, each five years apart. None of the siblings are fully related and AlanaBlu often found herself caring for them due to an absent mother, missing school in the process. 

“I missed like two months because she was in jail,” she said. “So I had to take care of them and I think that a lot of setbacks that I faced weren’t my own.” 

Now, AlanaBlu considers them the biggest impacts on her life. 

“I think that dealing with my mental health, my siblings had been the greatest impact on me,” she said. “Because sometimes when I struggled with thoughts of not wanting to be there anymore or something like that, I’ve been able to think about how that would impact them and that’s the strongest force for me.” 

Although the age gaps between the siblings is big, their love for one another is even bigger. 

“My brother has told me that he likes to see me chase my dreams and that he’s proud of me,” she said. “So, him being so young, telling me those things means a lot.” 

Her family dynamic shifted further when her mother faced more legal trouble, and AlanaBlu, age 12, along with her two siblings, entered foster care. Her sister, Ceager, lived with a foster family, her brother, Rory, with an uncle, while AlanaBlu found solace with her grandmother, who quickly became her “rock”. 

However, after some time, her rock became a hard-place, as her grandmother began experiencing memory and personality loss. 

“My grandma is kind of a hard topic because since she was my rock for so long and then she wasn’t, it was really hard to have trust with people,” she said. “It kinda seemed like every relationship kind of just crumbled at some point, even the ones that seemed like they were really strong and were gonna be there forever.” 

AlanaBlu’s relationship with her grandmother became deeply affected by both emotional wounds and the regression of her grandmother’s mental health. 

For years, her grandmother was a source of stability, but their bond was strained after AlanaBlu was kicked out at 17, leaving her with unhealed pain. Now, as her grandmother loses part of her identity due to illness, AlanaBlu grapples with the loss of the person she once knew. While she feels empathy for her grandmother, who has fewer people in her life, AlanaBlu struggles with the difficult task of accepting the new version of her grandmother while still mourning the past. 

Despite the emotional complexity, AlanaBlu has chosen to offer compassion rather than express her confusion and hurt. 

“I don’t have that much time with her,” she said. “I feel upset and confused about those things, but instead of me expressing that in the time I have with her, I kind of just show compassion.” 

Despite her challenges, AlanaBlu’s journey was a fight for self-sufficiency. Facing behavioral issues and PTSD, she struggled finding stability. After being kicked out by her grandmother, she moved in with her boyfriend, Jacob Hernandez, who goes by JR, and his mother, who battles a schizoaffective disorder, which turned into a complex arrangement that they describe as a “trap house”, where lost and troubled friends could find refuge. 

“We brought home all lost puppies,” JR said. “A lot of my homies have kind of similar life stories and we kind of found strength in each other.” 

AlanaBlu and JR met when she was 14, starting off as friends. 

“When we met, I was kind of drawn to him,” she said. 

AlanaBlu described JR as a popular person within the clique of their friends, being able to draw anyone in. She recalled how he had a lot of friends, many of whom she was able to form connections with. 

“I was able to meet a lot of new people and gain a lot of community,” she said. 

JR attended AlanaBlu’s sister’s first birthday party and has experienced a lot of life with her, with AlanaBlu describing how he had been through a lot of experiences with her, understanding her situation and standing by her. 

After a year of knowing one another, they became official. 

“I think that it’s been a really cool experience or a really lucky experience to be able to have a partner so early in life,” she said. “I think that we’re both supportive of each other and we both are able to have conversations and reflect on our relationship and things like that.” 

AlanaBlu is grateful for the relationship, saying how JR is the person she can turn to when needed, such as moving in with him when she had nowhere else to go. 

AlanaBlu recalled how when her grandmother kicked her out, she was just a month shy of turning eighteen and refused to live in a foster home. 

“I started calling everyone I knew. I called one of my sister’s old foster homes and they couldn’t take me,” she said. “I called all these random lawyers that I used to have. I called some of my teachers, I called random friends of my mom, my brother’s friend’s parents, any adult I knew I called them and no one was able to take me.” 

As a last resort, AlanaBlu asked JR and his mom to live with them. 

But the arrangement added new challenges, with frequent conflicts between AlanaBlu and JR’s mother. 

“When I brought Alana home, all my mom saw was ‘my person is being taken from me,’” he said. “That was big for my mom because it was like Alana was taking all my attention.” 

JR’s mom wasn’t the only person in the house she had conflicts with. JR’s older sister, who left home, still had her room, where AlanaBlu slept. 

“Her room was the room that I had taken over and she would come into the house and say that I had stolen her stuff and that I was trying to insert myself in their life,” she said. “It’s kind of weird to live in a space where you kind of know you’re not really wanted and so you don’t really know how to take up that space.” 

School presented yet another hurdle: lack of transportation left AlanaBlu unable to attend classes, and her pleas for help went unanswered. 

“I wanted to learn,” she said. “But I literally couldn’t get there.” 

Despite these setbacks, AlanaBlu pushed herself through her senior year at Greeley Central, graduating and taking charge of her life. 

In 2021, AlanaBlu and JR moved out, both securing jobs. It was then that AlanaBlu began to feel a sense of control. She excelled at work and soon enrolled at the University of Northern Colorado’s extended campus in Lowry. 

“I’m in charge of who I am,” she reflected. “And it made me feel a lot more capable.” 

Her academic performance soared in special education, with straight A’s in college. 

“I really succeeded and through college, I found my passion,” she said. “Getting into college helped me feel social because I was able to meet a bunch of new people and I’ve been part of a bunch of cool scenes and I feel like it’s really made me feel empowered.” 

Through UNC’s Independent Youth Program, a program designed to help establish academic success through personalized coaching and advising, AlanaBlu is coached by advisor Melinda Gurule. 

“I first met AlanaBlu after receiving a referral from the Office of Financial Aid,” Gurule said. “AlanaBlu displayed a genuine eagerness to learn about the resources available. Once she decided to join the program, she expressed excitement about having a dedicated space where she could seek guidance and support for her higher education journey.” 

Though the UNC campus lacks traditional college social scenes, AlanaBlu has found community and purpose. With a network of supportive friends, scholarships and a bright outlook, AlanaBlu has transformed a rocky path into a foundation for her future. 

“I’ve been part of a bunch of newsletters and articles,” she said. “I think it’s really cool how you see these kinds of showcases of student success, especially when they don’t have a traditional background and it’s really cool to see that UNC values that.” 

Her work as a mentor for the Independent Youth Program, helping other young people who face similar struggles, has given her a purpose. 

“I’m going to be a teacher,” she shared, motivated by the desire to help others navigate life’s uncertainties. “Being a mentor is a really great opportunity. I’m able to guide them in their academics and in their social lives, which is something that I’ll be doing as a special educator and it gives me an ability to start out my career more student centered.” 

“I have witnessed AlanaBlu’s remarkable growth in confidence and leadership,” Gurule said. “She has demonstrated increased self-assurance in her academic abilities and her skill set as a leader and future educator.” 

From a young age, AlanaBlu began navigating the challenges of bipolar disorder, layered on top of a childhood marked by trauma and PTSD. The onset of her condition brought confusion as she struggled to understand the drastic shifts in her mental health, from high-energy days of boundless enthusiasm to sudden, disheartening lows. 

“Sometimes it’s hard,” she admitted. “But I keep thinking maybe I could keep getting better for me.” 

Today, she is an advocate for mental health, learning to manage these responses by embracing a deeper understanding of herself and her condition. This journey has taught her to approach her emotions with compassion and today, she draws strength from her self-awareness, understanding that she doesn’t need to change who she is to fit into other’s perceptions. 

“Understanding that everyone’s on their own journey of empathy really has helped me understand that I’m not always the problem,” she said. “Sometimes it’s people not being able to understand that people are different from them and it’s not that I have to change and be a certain way. It makes you realize that it’s not always your fault.” 

“AlanaBlu is an exceptional individual who embodies genuine kindness, determination and an impressive work ethic,” Gurule said. “It has been a true privilege to work with her and witness her growth as she makes steady progress toward her personal and academic goals.” 

Through advocating for mental health, AlanaBlu’s journey reflects her belief in the power of courage and self-reliance. 

After years of applying, she was finally accepted into a competitive program to visit the Amazon Rainforest, but financial challenges have made her weigh that decision carefully. 

For AlanaBlu, this represents one of life’s necessary leaps of courage. She believes that true empowerment comes from pushing through uncertainty and taking bold steps toward personal growth.  

“I think that sometimes in life, it’s really hard to take those leaps,” she said. “I think that if you look at any strong, powerful person in the world, they’ve probably made some big leaps of courage and I think that’s what everyone needs to make.” 

She has learned the importance of being her own support system, emphasizing that self-awareness and self-reliance are foundational to building meaningful connections with others. 

“For me, I always wanted a lot of people around me,” she said, commenting on how sometimes people didn’t necessarily help as she still had a lot to figure out personally. 

“I think that it’s always the most beneficial to rely on yourself and realize how powerful you can be and then you become really empowered by that,” she said. 

While challenging, these leaps of courage have brought her a sense of fulfillment far greater than playing it safe. 

“Going to college was really scary and I didn’t know if I would succeed or not,” she said. “I made a big leap of courage in myself.” 

In the home she now shares with four-year boyfriend, JR, she cares for a collection of animals, a nod to the compassionate community she’s created. The couple, with two dogs, a cat, five chickens and two hermit crabs, have formed a makeshift family of “lost puppies” — a testament to AlanaBlu’s journey from a difficult past to a hopeful future, with plans to pass on the strength she’s found along the way. 

“I do feel really proud of myself,” she proclaimed. “I’m proud to be where I am because it hasn’t always been easy. I’m proud that I continue to push and I’m proud that I’ve accomplished everything that I have.”